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Book L4-5. 






CIRCULAR 



FKOM THE 



GENERAL LAND OFFICE 



SHOWING 



THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING 



TO 



OBTAIN TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THE HOMESTEAD, 
DESERT LAND, AND OTHER LAWS. 



Issued July 11, 1899. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1899. 



CIECULAR 



FROM THE 



GENERAL LAND OFFICE 



SHOWING 



THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING 



TO 



OBTAIN TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THE HOMESTEAD, 
DESERT LAND, AND OTHER LAWS. 



Issued July 11, 1899. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1899. 



*?' 






. 



1901 



D, oi ft 



*•■ 



i 



CIECULAE 



IN REFERENCE TO 



THE MANNER OF ACQUIRING TITLE TO THE PUBLIC LANDS. 



Department of the Interior, 

General Land Office, 
Washington, D. C., July 11, 1899. 

The public lands of the United States are included within the States 
of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, 
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, 
Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, 
South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, the Ter- 
ritories of Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, and the District of 
Alaska. 

In Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois only a few isolated tracts of public 
land remain. 

In these States and Territories, with the exception of the three last 
mentioned, there are land districts with denned boundaries, in each of 
which a land office is established by law, where a register and receiver 
are in attendance, for the sale or other disposal of the public lands 
embraced therein. For appointments, term, compensation, and gen- 
eral duties of these registers and receivers, see sections 2234 to 2247 
of the Kevised Statutes of the United States. (Appendix No. 1, pp. 
144-146.) 

A land office, with an ex-officio register and receiver, was established 
for the District of Alaska, under the act of Congress of May 17, 1884 
(23 Stat. L., 24 ; Appendix No. 26, p. 182), which provides for the disposal 
of the minerals therein; and sections 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 of the act of 
Congress approved March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1095; Appendix No. 44, 
p. 221), admit of entries therein for town-site purposes and of lands used 
and occupied for the purposes of trade and business, but the agricultu- 
ral lands in that district are not subject to survey or disposal under 
the general land laws. 

Additional legislation respecting Alaska lands is contained in the act 
of Congress of May 14, 1898 (30 Stat., 409; Appendix No. 77, p. 248). 
Districts have been established with land offices at Sitka, Peavy, Earn- 
part City, and Circle. 

Any proper information regarding vacant public lands may be 
obtained by application at any of the land offices, a list of which will 
be found on page 270. 

PURCHASE AT PUBLIC SALE AND PRIVATE ENTRY. 

The sale of lands at public auction was, prior to March 3, 1891, pro- 
vided for by law (Kev. Stat., sees. 2353, 2357, 2358, 2359, 2360, and 
2455; Appendix No. 1, 158 and 161), but such sales were prohibited by 
sections 9 and 10 of the act of that date (26 Stat. L., 1095; Appendix 



4 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

No. 44, p. 221), save under the exceptions noted in said sections, which 
read as follows : 

Sec. 9. That hereafter no public lands of the United States, except abandoned 
military or other reservations, isolated and disconnected fractional tracts authorized 
to be sold by section twenty-four hundred and fifty-five of the Revised Statutes, and 
mineral and other lands, the sale of which at public auction has been authorized by 
acts of Congress of a special nature having local application, shall be sold at public 
sale. 

Sec. 10. That nothing in this act shall change, repeal, or modify any agreements 
or treaties made with any Indian tribes for the disposal of their lands, or of land 
ceded to the United States to be disposed of for the benefit of such tribes, and the 
proceeds thereof \o be placed in the Treasury of the United States; and the disposi- 
tion of such lands shall continue in accordance with the provisions of such treaties 
or agreements, except as provided in section five of this acl. 

The first section of the act of Congress of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 
854 ; Appendix No. 32, p. 187), provides that from and after its passage 
" no public lands of the United States, except those in the State of 
Missouri, shall be subject to private entry." This relates to the private 
sale or entry of " offered" lands under sections 2354 and 2357, United 
States Revised Statutes. No sale or location at private entry will be 
admissible under said first section, except in Missouri, in which State 
all public lands are subject to private sale by section 2 of the act of 
Congress approved May 18, 1898 (30 Stat., 418), but in making purchase 
under that act the purchaser is required to show the absence of any 
prior adverse settlement right. 

These provisions of said acts of 1889 and 1891, while forbidding the 
disposal at public auction or private sale of the mass of public lands 
under the general statutes that formerly provided therefor, do not nec- 
essarily prevent the disposal of lands under any act of Congress of a 
special nature having local application, in such manner as therein pro- 
vided for, in reference to any specific lands or class of lauds, although 
this may include the disposal thereof at public auction or private sale, 
as, for example, coal lands at private entry under section 2347, Revised 
Statutes, circular July 31, 1882, 1 L. D., 687 ; Osage trust and dimin- 
ished reserve lands at private entry, last sentence, section 3, act of May 
28, 1880, 21 Stat. L., 143 ; salt spring reserve lands, act of January 12, 
1877, 19 Stat. L., 221. 

MINIMUM AND DOUBLE MINIMUM LANDS. 

No land shall be sold, either at public or private sale, for less than 
$1.25 per acre, which is therefore called the " minimum price," and lands 
held for sale at that price are called "minimum lands." (Rev. Stat., 
2357 j Appendix No. 1, p. 158.) 

The double minimum price established by law is $2.50 per acre, and 
lands held for sale at that price are called " double minimum lands." 

Alternate reserved sections within the limits of railroad grants are 
double minimum in price (sec. 2357, Rev. Stat.), except such as were put 
in market at the enhanced price prior to January 1, 1861, and were sub- 
ject to entry June 15, 1880, all of which were reduced in price to $1.25 
per acre by the third section of the act of Congress of Juue 15, 1880 
(21 Stat. L., 237; Appendix No. 20, p. 178), and except those opposite 
those portions of railroads not completed on March 2, 1889, which were 
reduced in price by section 4 of the act of that date (25 Stat. L., 854; 
Appendix No. 32, p. 187), or where a different price is provided for in 
statutes for the disposal of lands under special conditions. Lands 
reduced in price under act of June 15, 1880, are not, however, subject 
to private entrv at the reduced price until again offered at public sale 
(Eldred v. Sexton, 19 Wall., 189). 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 5 

PUBLIC SALE OF ISOLATED TRACTS. 

Any party desiring the sale of an isolated tract under the provisions 
of section 2455, Kevised Statutes, as amended by the act of February 26, 
1895 (28 Stat. L., 687; Appendix No. 63, p. 238), will be required to file 
in the district land office having jurisdiction over the tract an affidavit 
made by himself and duly corroborated by two witnesses, setting forth 
the character of the land; stating whether it is covered with timber or 
contains stone or any mineral, whether it is agricultural in character, 
for what purpose the land would be chiefly valuable, and why he desires 
the same ordered into market. It must also be shown tuat the tract is 
unoccupied by anyone having color of title thereto. 

No lands are subject to be ordered into market as aforesaid until the 
same shall have been subject to homestead entry for a period of three 
years after the surrounding lands have been entered, filed upon, or sold 
by the Government. 

Care must be taken by the district land officers in reporting any such 
application for the Commissioner's favorable action thereon that their 
plats and other records do not show the existence of any objection to 
the offering of such lands under said law. When instructions are 
received from the General Land Office ordering such tract or tracts to 
be exposed at public sale, they will cause a notice to be published once 
a week for the space of thirty days in a newspaper of general circula- 
tion in the vicinity of the land, using the form given on page 299. 

The day of sale must be fixed so as to take place at least thirty days 
after the date of the first publication of the notice. The register will 
also make proper posting of notice. The sale must close immediately 
after offering the lands thns advertised; but should any of the lands 
thus offered not be purchased at the public sale, they will not subse- 
quently be regarded as subject to ordinary private entry unless located 
within the State of Missouri, in view of the provisions of the first sec- 
tion of the act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 854; Appendix No. 32, 
p. 187). 

The party desiring snch offering to be made must first make a deposit 
of sufficient money to pay the cost of publishing the notice and all 
other expenses of the sale, the deposit to be made with the receiver, 
who will notify the register thereof, that he may cause the notice to be 
published; but applicants are not to be deprived of the right to make 
their own contracts for the publication of notice, following rule 5, page 
84, of this circular in reference to final-proof notices. 

Such action will, however, give the applicant no preference right over 
others desiring to purchase the land, as the same must be offered at 
public sale, and in case of competition must be disposed of to the highest 
bidder. 

A nonmineral affidavit (Form 4-062) must be furnished by the pur- 
chaser. It will be observed that no more than 160 acres shall be sold 
to any one person at the offering under said section 2455, but this 
amount is not limited by the provisions of the acts of August 30, 1890, 
and March 3, 1891. (Charles H. Boyle, 20 L. D., 255.) 

Immediately after each sale the district officers will transmit to the 
General Land Office a joint report showing the lauds offered, indicating 
the sales, the numbers of the certificates, date of sale, and names of 
the purchasers. 

They will issue the cash papers the same as in ordinary cash entries, 
and report them in their current monthly returns, forwarding with said 
entries the affidavit of the publisher, showing the thirty days' publica- 
tion, together with the register's certificate of posting. 



b TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

MODE OF PROCEEDING IN MAKING CASH PURCHASES. 

A person desiring to purchase a portion of the public land for cash 
must present a written application to the register for the district in 
which the land described is situated, describing the tract and giving 
its area (see Form 4-001, p. 271). If the tract is vacant and subject to 
the entry applied for, the register will so certify to the receiver, stating 
the price, and the applicant must pay to the latter the amount of the 
purchase money. Thereupon the receiver will issue his receipt in 
duplicate to the purchaser for the money paid (Form 4-131, p. 271). 
The register will then issue his certificate of purchase (Form 4-189, 
p. 271). 

At the close of the month the register and receiver will make returns 
of the sale to the General Land Office, from which, when the proceed- 
ings are found regular, a patent will be issued. 

CASH PURCHASE BY TIMBER TRESPASSERS. 

In addition to the foregoing in reference to purchase at public offer- 
ing and purchase or location at ordinary private entry, it is to be noted 
that the first section of the act of Congress of June 15, 1880 (21 Stat. 
L., 237 ; Appendix No. 20, p. 178), having reference to cases of timber 
trespasses upon the public lands committed prior to March 1, 1879, has 
been held to extend to such trespassers the privilege of paying for the 
land upon which the offenses were so committed, at the price per acre 
for which under the law in force at date of payment the lands could 
be sold. This privilege of purchase was held not to be confined to 
lands subject to private entry, but to extend to any lands not mineral 
subject to disposal under the general existing laws. 

But it is now held that the fact of trespass does not, under said act, 
give the trespasser the right to purchase lands otherwise excluded 
from sale. (Woodstock Iron Company, 6 L. D., 738.) 

The provisions referred to apply only to tracts trespassed upon prior 
to March 1, 1879, and it is thought that few, if any, tracts remain 
undisposed of to which they would be applicable. From this fact and 
the operation of the act of March 2, 1889, withdrawing public lands 
generally from private entry, these provisions from the statute may be 
considered as no longer operative, unless in the adjustment of claims 
heretofore initiated. 

WARRANT LOCATIONS. 

Military bounty-land warrants may be located upon any vacant pub- 
lic lands of the United States that are subject to sale at private entry, 
and they may be used in payment of preemption claims or in commu- 
tation of homestead entries, even when the same embrace unoffered 
lands. But the only lands now subject to private entry under general 
statutes are in the State of Missouri. (See first section act of March 2, 
1889, 25 Stat. L., 854.) 

A warrant issued to several parties or assigned to three or more per- 
sons (sec. 2414, Bev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 160) can not be located if 
assigned by one of the owners to another or to other persons, so as to 
invest any one of the parties with a greater interest than any other. 
In other words, each owner of a warrant, at the time of its location, 
must have an equal share or interest therein. 

A warrant may be located either at a district land office or through 
the agency of this office (sec. 2437, Bev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 160). 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. { 

If located at a district office, it must be accompanied by a tender of the 
fees to which the register and receiver are entitled and by a written 
application to locate, containing a description of the tracts desired, and 
signed by the locator or his attorney in fact. If by the latter, his 
authority to act must be evidenced by a power of attorney, which must 
be prepared in accordance with the prescribed form and indorsed, if 
practicable, upon the warrant. 

If the location is made through this office, the warrant must be sent 
to the Commissioner with a request that the same be located in a speci- 
fied land district, and accompanied by a receipt from the register and 
receiver for the fees to which they may be severally entitled under sec- 
tion 2238, Revised Statutes. 

Each warrant is required to be distinctly and separately located u|3on 
a compact body of land 5 and if the area of the tract claimed should 
exceed the number of acres called for in the warrant the locator must 
pay for the excess in cash; but if it should fall short, he must take the 
tract in full satisfaction for his warrant. A person can not enter a body 
of land with a number of warrants without specifying the particular 
tract or tracts to which each shall be applied ; and for each warrant 
there must be a distinct location certificate and patent. (Sec. 2415, 
Eev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 160.) 

Where the desired tract is subject to entry at a greater minimum 
than $1.25 per acre, the locator, in addition to the surrendered warrant, 
must pay in cash the difference between the value of such warrant at 
$1.25 per acre and that of the said land, or present a warrant of such 
denomination as will, at its legal value of $1.25 per acre, cover the 
rated price of the tract, and pay the excess in value of the land, if 
any, in cash. For example : A tract of 40 acres of land held at $2.50 
per acre may be entered by the location of a warrant calling for 40 
acres and the payment of $50 in cash; or by locating thereon a war- 
rant for 80 acres, the 40 acres embraced in the entry being received in 
full satisfaction of the same; or a tract containing 80 acres rated at 
$2.50 per acre may be entered by the location of two 80-acre warrants, 
or of one for 160 acres, and so on. It will be required, however, in the 
entry of a tract held at a greater minimum than $1.25 per acre, by the 
location of two or more warrants, that each warrant shall be located 
upon a specific legal subdivision thereof, which legal subdivision shall 
be received in full satisfaction of the warrant surrendered therefor; 
and that the excess in value of the lands, if any there be, shall in each 
case be paid in cash. Hence a tract containing 40 acres or less of 
double minimum land can not be entered by the location of two 40- acre 
iv ar rants. 

A preemptor of lands held at $1.25 per acre may enter the tract 
embraced in his claim by the location of one, two, or more warrants ; 
but each warrant must be applied to a specific subdivision thereof — that 
is, a warrant for 40 acres must be located upon a described subdivision 
containing as nearly as possible 40 acres of land ; a warrant for 80 acres 
upon a tract embracing 8C acres, and so on. Where the preemption 
claim is composed of land subject to entry at a greater minimum than 
$1.25 per acre, the rules set forth in the preceding section will apply. 
(Sec. 2277, Eev. Stat. ; Appendix No. 1, p. 151.) 

When a subdivision is fractional a warrant approximating nearest the 
number of acres embraced therein may be located thereon, but the frac- 
tional excess in area must be paid for with cash, and will be conveyed 
in the same patent with the lands covered by the location of the war- 
rant; a legal subdivision, however, other than those entered by the loca- 
tion of the warrant will not be regarded as a legitimate fractional excess 



8 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

over such location, bat will be required to constitute a separate entry. 
Thus a person will not be permitted to make one entry of a quarter sec- 
tion of laud by the location of a warrant for 120 acres and a cash pay- 
ment for the remaining subdivision. 

Eegisters and receivers of the local land offices are entitled to the 
following fees for their services in locating warrants, and the several 
amounts mentioned must be paid at the time of location : 





Each to the 

register 
and receiver. 


Total. 




$0.50 

.75 

1.00 

1.50 

2.00 


$1.00 
1.50 






2.00 




3.00 


For a 160-acre warrant 


4.00 







(Bounty warrants were not issued to soldiers and sailors for military 
service in the late civil war. The only privileges granted them in con- 
nection with the public lands will be found set forth hereafter under 
the head " Homesteads." The bounties for military service in this war 
were not given in land but in money.) 

PRIVATE LAND SCRIP LOCATION. 

Scrip issued in satisfaction of private land claims under decrees of 
the United States Supreme Court, pursuant to acts of Congress of June 
22, 1860 (12 Stat. L., 85), March 2, 1867 (14 Stat. L., 544), and June 10, 
1872 (17 Stat. L., 378), and scrip issued under the act of June 2, 1858 
(11 Stat. L., 294), may be located on lands subject to sale at private 
entry or in payment of preemption claims and in commutation of home- 
stead claims, in the same manner as military bounty-land warrants. 
(See act of January 28, 1879, 20 Stat. L., 274; Appendix No. 9, p. 169.) 

ADDITIONAL METHODS FOR USING MILITARY BOUNTY LAND. WAR- 
RANTS, AND SCRIP ISSUED UNDER ACT OF JUNE 2, 1858. 

The act of December 13, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 594; Appendix No. 58, p. 
236), "in addition to the benefits now given thereto by law," provides 
that military bounty land warrants and scrip issued under section 3 of 
the act approved June 2, 1858, may be located in certain other classes 
therein specified, viz : 

In the payment, or part payment, for any lands entered under the 
desert-land law of March 3, 1877, and the amendments thereto; in pay- 
ment, or part payment, for lands entered under the timber-culture law 
of March 3, 1873, and the amendments thereto; in payment, or part 
payment, for lands entered under the timber and stone law of June 3, 
1878, and the amendments thereto; and in payment, or part payment, 
for lands sold at public auction, except such lands as shall have been 
purchased from any Indian tribe within ten years last past. 

This act does not change existing law or regulations as to the loca- 
tion of such warrants or scrip upon lands subject to sale at private 
entry, or in payment for preemption claims or commutation of home- 
stead entries. 

In reference to the four classes of entries specified in the act of 
December 13, 1894, one or more warrants or certificates of location are 
receivable in payment, or part payment, for a tract of land entered 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 9 

under either of the laws designated, at the rate of $1.25 per acre upon 
the expressed value of the warrants or certificates of location. If the 
amount of money due on such entry exceeds the face value of the war- 
rant or certificate of location at the rate of $1.25 per acre, the entry- 
man must pay for the excess in cash, but if the face value of the war- 
rant or certificate of location exceeds the amount due on such entry, 
the claimant must take the tract in full satisfaction of said warrant or 
certificate of location. 

In initiating an entry under the desert-land laws payment may be 
made in money to the amount of 25 cents per acre, as required by pre- 
viously existing law, or, if preferred, warrants or scrip maybe tendered 
as payment, and if the face value of such warrant or scrip exceeds the 
amount of money due in initiating said entry, credit may be given for 
any balance, to be applied to final payment when final proof has been 
made. 

Where such warrants or scrip are tendered as payment by other than 
the party to whom issued, evidence will be required that the entryman 
is the heir or legatee of the party to whom issued, or evidence that said 
warrant or certificate of location has been duly assigned in accordance 
with circulars of July 20, 1875, and February 13, 1879. 

No fees are required to be paid where warrants or certificates of loca- 
tion are used under this act, the same being regarded as the equivalent 
for money to the extent of their value at the rate of $1.25 per acre, 
and the local officers will receive from the United States Treasury their 
commissions upon the surrender thereof, as in the case of entries made 
with actual cash. 

When located each warrant or certificate of location must be relin- 
quished by the legal owner thereof after the following form, viz : 

I (or we) do hereby relinquish to the United States the within military bounty 
land warrant or certificate of location in payment (or in part payment, as the case 

may be) of the (here describe the tract), located in the name of , at the land 

office at , this day of , 18 — . 

(Signed) A. B. [seal.] 

"Witnesses: CD. 
E.F. 

It may also be added that, under said act, no warrant or certificate 
of location can be used in payment for any lands which have been pur- 
chased from any Indian tribe within ten years last past, neither can 
they be used in payment for lands ceded to the United States by any 
Indian tribe where such lands are to be disposed of for the benefit of 
such Indian tribe. 

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE SCRIP LOCATIONS. 

Agricultural college scrip issued under the acts of July 2, 1862 (12 
Stat. L., 503), and March 3, 1883 (22 Stat. L., 484), may be used- 
First. In the location of land at "private entry; " but when so used 
is applicable only to lands not mineral which may be subject to private 
entry, at $1.25 per acre, and is restricted to a technical " quarter sec- 
tion" — that is, land embraced by the quarter-section lines indicated on 
the official plats of survey; or it may be located on apart of a "quar- 
ter section," where such part is taken as iu full for a quarter; but it can 
not be applied to different subdivisions to make an area equivalent to a 
quarter section. (Sec. 2, act July 2, 1862, 12 Stat. L., 503.) The manner 
of proceeding to acquire title with this class of paper is the same as in 
cash and warrant cases, the fees to be paid being the same as on war- 
rants. The location of this scrip at private entry is restricted to three 



10 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

sections in each toivnship of land, and 1,000,000 acres in any one State. 
(15 Stat. L., 227.) 

Under the first section of the act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 854, 
Appendix No. 32, p. 187), there is no land now subject to private entry, 
under general statutes, except in the State of Missouri. 

Second. In payment of preemption claims and in commutation of 
homestead entries. (Sec. 2278, Bev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 151.) 
When so used it can be located on minimum or double minimum lands, 
and there is no limitation of the quantity that may be located in a town- 
ship or State. When located in payment of preemption claims and in 
commutation of homestead entries on double minimum lands, the excess 
price must be paid or a double quantity of the scrip surrendered. (Sees. 
2277, 2278, Eev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 151.) 

When the land located is rated at $1.25 per acre, and the area does 
not exceed the area specified in the scrip, it must be taken in full satis- 
faction thereof. (Sees. 2277, 2278, Eev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 151.) 

PREEMPTION LAWS REPEALED BY ACT OF MARCH 3, 1891. 

The fourth section of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1095; 
Appendix No. 44, p. 221), repeals generally all the laws allowing preemp- 
tion of the public lands by individuals, but provides for perfecting 
claims previously initiated ; therefore no filings or entries will be allowed 
under the preemption laws except when necessary to perfect claims 
initiated prior to the approval of the repealing act, or claims to Indian 
lands covered by its tenth section. 

For necessary information relative to the adjustment of such claims 
reference is made to the laws and regulations as given in Appendix 
No. 1, page 146, and Appendix No. 84, page 260. 

EXTENSION OF TIME OF PAYMENT. 

By joint resolution of Congress of September 30, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 
684), it was enacted — 

That whenever it shall appear by the filing of such evidence in the offices of any 
register and receiver as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior that any 
settler on the public lands, by reason of a failure of crops for which he is in no wise 
responsible, is unable to make the payment on his homestead or preemption claim 
required by law, the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby authorized 
to extend the time for such payment for not exceeding one year from the date when 
the same becomes due. 

By the second section of the act of July 26, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 123), it' 
was provided — 

That the time of making final payments on entries under the preemption act is 
hereby extended for one year from the date when the same becomes due in all cases 
where preemption entrymen are unable to make final payments from causes which 
they can not control, evidence of such inability to be subject to the regulations of 
the Secretary of the Interior. 

1. Any party applying for the extension of time authorized by said 
resolution or act will be required to submit to the register and receiver 
of the proper district land office testimony, to consist of his own affi- 
davit, corroborated, so far as possible, executed before the register or 
receiver, or some officer authorized under the acts of May 26, 1890, and 
March 2, 1895, to administer the oaths required in homestead entries 
within the county where the land is situated, setting forth in detail the 
facts relating to the failure of crops, or other causes on which he relies 
to support his application, and that he is unable for such reasons to 
make the payment required by law. (11 L. D., 417.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 11 

The register and receiver will not accept any application for exten- 
sion under said resolution until the party shall have in due course sub- 
mitted final proof on his claim and the same shall have been found 
satisfactory by them ; and should any such application be made prior 
to the submission of the proof and their favorable finding thereon, they 
will reject the application, so advise the applicant, and inform him that 
he acquired no right thereby under said joint resolution. 

2. After application received in accordance with the foregoiDg rule, 
the register and receiver will note upon their records in pencil that the 
same has been filed, and transmit it, together with the testimony filed 
in support thereof, and the final proof submitted and found satisfactory 
by them, as above, accompanied by their report, and await further 
instructions. 

3. Thereafter they will allow no filing or entry for the land covered 
by the claim sought to be perfected until decision of this office on the 
pending application. 

4. The register and receiver will be careful to distinguish between an 
application under said joint resolution for an extension of time for pay- 
ment and an application for leave of absence under the act of March 2, 
1889 {25 Stat. L., 854). 

Applications under these instructions will be made special. (See case 
of Parker v. Brown, 20 L. D., 323.) 

Additional extensions of time to make payment have been provided 
as follows : 

Act of February 26, 1896 (29 Stat. L., 16), extending for one year the 
time for making proof and payment for all lands located under the 
homestead laws in any former Indian reservation in South Dakota. 

Act of June 10, 1896 (29 Stat. L., 342), granting to homestead settlers 
on all ceded Indian reservations an extension of one year to make 
payment. 

Act of June 7, 1897 (30 Stat. L., 87), granting a further extension of 
one year to make payment to settlers on all ceded Indian reservations. 

Act of July 1, 1898 (30 Stat. L., 595), extending the time to make 
payment until July 1, 1900, to settlers on all ceded Indian reservations. 

HOMESTEADS. 

The homestead laws secure to qualified persons the right to settle 
upon, enter, and acquire title to not exceeding one quarter section, or 
160 acres, of public land, by establishing and maintaining residence 
thereon and improving and cultivating the land for the continuous 
period of five years. 

A homestead entryman must be the head of a family, or a person who 
has arrived at the age of 21 years, and a citizen of the United States, 
or one who has filed his declaration of intention to become such, as 
required by the naturalization laws, to which section 5 of the act of 
March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1095; Appendix No. 44, p. 221), attaches the 
condition that he must not be the proprietor of more than 160 acres of 
land in any State or Territory. 

Applicants to make homestead entries were restricted by section 2289, 
Eevised Statutes, to " unappropriated public lands upon which such 
person may have filed a preemption claim, or which may, at the time 
the application is made, be subject to preemption,*' but the act of March 
3, 1891, which repealed the preemption laws, so amended said section 
2289 as to describe the class of lands subject to homestead entry 
simply as " unappropriated public lands.'' 

The homestead law originally required the applicant in all cases to 



12 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

appear personally at the district land office and present his application 
(Form No. 4-007, p. 274), and to make the required affidavits before the 
register or receiver. This requirement was modified by the provisions 
of section 2294, Revised Statutes, and a further change was made by 
the amendment of said section by the act of May 26, 1890 (26 Stat. 
L., 121 ; Appendix No. 38, p. 213). 

The said act modified the requirements of previous general laws by 
allowing parties who are prevented " by reason of distance, bodily 
infirmity, or other good cause, from personal attendance at the district 
land office "to make the preliminary affidavits for homestead entries 
within the county or parish before any commissioner of the United 
States circuit court having jurisdiction over the county or parish in 
which the land desired is situated, or before the judge or clerk of any 
court of record of such county or parish, and to transmit the same, 
with their applications and the proper fees and commissions, to the 
register and receiver of the district land office, thus permitting entries 
to be effected without personal attendance at the district office by any 
parties availing themselves of its provisions. 

The act of March 2, 1895 (28 Stat. L., 744; Appendix No. 64, p. 239), 
provides for additional officers in the Territories, to be known as United 
States court commissioners, before whom the preliminary affidavits in 
homestead entries may be made in like manner as provided in the act 
of May 26, 1890. 

The office of United States circuit court commissioner ceased to 
exist June 30, 1897, under act of Congress of May 28, 1896 (29 Stat., 
184, Appendix No. 70, p. 242), which provided for the appointment of 
United States commissioners by the district court of each judicial 
district, to have the same powers and perform the same duties as the 
commissioners of the circuit courts whose office was abolished. 

Applicants availing themselves of the privileges of the said acts will 
be required to transmit with their applications an affidavit setting out 
specifically why they can not appear at the district office in person to 
make their preliminary homestead affidavits. 

A person in active service in the Army or Navy of the United States, 
whose family or some member thereof is residing on the land which he 
wishes to enter, and upon which bona fide settlement and improvement 
have been made, may by special enactment make the affidavit required 
by law before the officer commanding in the branch of service in which 
the applicant is engaged. (Sec. 2293, Eev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, 
p. 154.) 

A false oath taken before a clerk of a court under section 2294, 
Revised Statutes, or the proper officer under section 2293, or under the 
said acts of May 26, 1890, March 2, 1895, and May 28, 1896, is perjury, 
the same as if taken before the register or the receiver. 

Where a wife has been divorced from her husband or deserted, so 
that she is dependent upon her own resources for support, she can 
make homestead entry as the head of a family or as a femine sole. 

A single woman who makes a homestead entry and marries before 
making proof does not by her marriage forfeit her right to make proof 
and receive patent for the land, provided she does not abandon her 
residence on the land to reside elsewhere. Where two parties, how- 
ever, unite in marriage, each having an unperfected homestead entry, 
both entries can not be carried to patent. A residence elsewhere than 
on the land entered for more than six months at any one time is to be 
treated as an abandonment of the homestead entry under section 2297, 
Revised Statutes. (Appendix No. 1, p. 155.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 13 

APPLICATION FOR A HOMESTEAD. 

To obtain a homestead the party should select and personally examine 
the land and be satisfied of its character and true description. 

He must file an application, stating his name, residence, and post- 
office address and describing the land he desires to enter (Form 4-007, 
p. 274), and make affidavit (Form 4-0G3, p. 275) that he is not the pro- 
prietor of more than 160 acres of land in any State or Territory ; that he 
is a citizen of the LTnited States, or that he has filed his declaration of 
intention to become such, and that he is the head of a family, or over 21 
years of age, as the case may be; that his application is honestly and 
in good faith made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultiva- 
tion, and not for the benefit of any other person, persons, or corporation, 
and that he will faithfully and honestly endeavor to comply with all the 
requirements of law as to settlement, residence, and cultivation necessary 
to acquire title to the land applied for; that he is not acting as agent of 
any person, corporation, or syndicate in making such entry nor in 
collusion with any person, corporation, or syndicate to give them the 
benefit of the land entered, or any part thereof, or the timber thereon; 
that he does not apply to enter the same for the purpose of speculation, 
but in good faith to obtain a home for himself, and that he has not 
directly or indirectly made, and will not make, any agreement or con- 
tract in any way or manner, with any person or persons, corporation, 
or syndicate whatsoever, by which the title which he might acquire 
from the Government of the United States should inure in whole or in 
part to the benefit of any person except himself; and, further, that 
since August 30, 1890, he has not entered under the land laws of the 
United States, or filed upon, a quantity of land agricultural in charac- 
ter, and not mineral, which, with the tracts now applied for, would 
make more than 320 acres, and that he has not theretofore had the 
benefit of the homestead laws, and must pay the legal fee and that part 
of the commissions which is payable when entry is made. 

On compliance by the party with the foregoing requirements, the 
receiver will issue his receipt for the fee and that part of the commis- 
sions paid (Form 4-137, p. 275), a duplicate of which he will deliver to 
the party. The matter will then be entered on the records of the dis- 
trict office and reported to the General Land Office. 

HOMESTEAD SETTLERS ON UNSURVEYED LANDS. 

A homestead settler on unsurveyed public land not yet open to entry 
must make entry within three months after the filing of the township 
plat of survey in the district land office. (Act May 14, 1880, 21 Stat. 
L., 140; Appendix No. 15, p. 174.) 

SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATIONS. 

In cases of simultaneous applications to enter the same tract of land 
under the homestead laws, the rule is as follows : 

First. Where neither party has improvements on the land the right 
of entry should be awarded to the highest bidder. 

Second. Where one has actual settlement and improvement and the 
other has not, it should be awarded to the actual settler. 

Third. Where both allege settlement and improvements, an investi- 
gation must be had and the right of entry awarded to the one who 
shows prior actual settlement and substantial improvements, so as to 



14 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

be notice on the ground to any competitor. (Report of General Land 
Office for 1866, p. 19 ; also case of Helfrich v. King, 3 Copp's L. O., 
p. 164.) 

RESIDENCE OF APPLICANT MUST BE STATED. 

The applicant must, in every case, state in his application his place 
of actual residence and his post-office address, in order that notices of 
proceedings relative to his entry may be sent him. The register and 
receiver will note the post-office address on their tract books. (See 
Pules of Practice No. 14 and No. 17, as amended May 26, 1898.) 

INCEPTIVE RIGHTS OF HOMESTEAD SETTLERS. 

An inceptive right is vested in the settler by the proceedings herein- 
before described. He must, within six months after making his entry, 
establish his actual residence in a house upon the land, and must reside 
upon and cultivate the land continuously in accordance with law for the 
term of five years. Occasional visits to the land once in six months or 
oftener do not constitute residence. The homestead party must actu- 
ally inhabit the land and make it the home of himself and family, as 
well as improve and cultivate it. 

At the expiration of five years, or within two years thereafter, or, in 
case of entries existing at the date of the act of July 26, 1894 (28 Stat. 
L., 123; Appendix No. 49, p. 230), within three years thereafter, he may 
make proof of his compliance with law by residence, improvement, and 
cultivation for the full period required, and must show that the land 
has not been alienated except as provided in section 2288, Revised 
Statutes (sec. 2291, Rev Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 154), as amended by 
section 3 of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1095; Appendix 
No. 44, p. 221). 

The period of continuous residence and cultivation begins to run at 
the date of actual settlement, in case the entry at the district land office 
is made within the prescribed period (three months) thereafter, or 
before the intervention of a valid adverse claim. If the settlement is 
on unsurveyed land the latter period runs from the filing of plat in the 
district land office. (Act May 14, 1880, 21 Stat., 140 ; Appendix No. 15, 
p. 174. See circular of October 21, 1885, 4 L. D., 202.) 

CULTIVATION IN GRAZING: DISTRICTS. 

In grazing districts, stock raising and dairy production are so nearly 
akin to agricultural pursuits as to justify the issue of patent upon proof 
of permanent settlement and the use of the land for such purposes. 

FINAL PROOF. 

A settler desiring to make final proof must file with the register of 
the proper land office a written notice, in the prescribed form, of his 
intention to do so, which notice will be published by the register in a 
newspaper, to be by him designated as nearest the land, once a week 
for five successive weeks, at the applicant's expense. 

Applicants should begin to make their proofs in sufficient time to 
complete and file them in the local office within the statutory period of 
seven (or eight) years from date of entry. (See pp. 14 and 34.) 

The final affidavits and proof may be made before the register or 
receiver or before any United States commissioner appointed under 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 15 

section 19 of the act of May 28, 1896 (29 Stat., 184; Appendix, No. 70, 
p. 242), for the judicial district embracing the county or parish in which 
the lauds are situated, or before the judge or clerk (not necessarily the 
clerk in the absence of the judge) of any court of record of the county 
or parish in which the lands are situated (act May 26, 1890, 26 Stat. L., 
121 ; Appendix, No. 38, p. 213), or before any United States court com- 
missioner appointed under the provisions of the act of March 2, 1895 (28 
Stat. L., 744; Appendix, No. 64, p. 239); but the proof can not be made 
outside of the county, unless before the register or receiver, or unless 
the lands are situated in an unorganized county, when the proof may 
be made in an adjacent county, as held in Secretary's decision of Octo- 
ber 2, 1890, in case of Edward Bowker, 11 L. D., 361. 

Proofs can only be made by the homestead claimant in person, and 
can not be made by an agent, attorney, assignee, or other person, except 
that in case of the death of the entryman proof can be made by the 
statutory successor to the homestead right, in the manner provided 
by law. 

HEIRS OF A HOMESTEAD SETTLER. 

Where a homestead settler dies before the consummation of his 
claim, the widow or, in case of her death, the heirs may continue set- 
tlement or cultivation, and obtain title upon requisite proof at the 
proper time. If the widow proves up, title passes to her; if she dies 
before proving up and the heirs make the proof, the title will vest in 
them. (Sec. 2291, Eev. Stat. ; Appendix No. 1, 154.) 

Where both parents die, leaving infant children, the homestead may 
be sold for cash for the benefit of such children, and the purchaser will 
receive title from the United States, or residence or cultivation may 
continue for the prescribed period, when the patent will issue to the 
children. (Sec. 2292, Eev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, 154.) 

Upon the death of a boin stead er who leaves no widow, but both adult 
and minor heirs, the right to perfect entry passes alike to all the heirs. 
See Bernier v. Bernier (147 U. S., 242). 

A homestead right can not be devised away from a widow or minor 
children. 

In case of the death of a person after having entered a homestead, 
the failure of the widow, children, or devisee of the deceased to take 
up residence on the land within six months after the entry, or other- 
wise to fulfill the demands of the letter of the law as to residence, will 
not necessarily subject the entry to forfeiture on the ground of aban- 
donment. If the land is cultivated in good faith the law will be con- 
sidered as having been substantially complied with. (Tauer v. The 
Heirs of Walter A. Mann, 4 L. D., 433.) 

H03IESTEAD CLAIMANTS WHO BECOME INSANE. 

The rights of a homestead claimant who has become insane may, 
nuder act of June 8, 1880, be proved up and his claim r^erfected by any 
person duly authorized to act for him during his disability. (21 Stat. 
L., 166; Appendix No. 18, p. 177.) 

Such claim must have been initiated in full compliance with law, by 
a person who was a citizen or had declared his intention of becoming a 
citizen, and was in other respects duly qualified. 

The party for whose benefit the act shall be invoked must have become 
insane subsequently to the initiation of his claim, 



16 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Claimant must have complied with, the law up to the time of becom- 
ing insane; and proof of compliance will be required to cover only the 
period prior to such insanity; but the act will not be construed to cure 
a failure to comply with the law when the failure occurred prior to such 
insanity. 

The final proof must be made by a party whose authority to act for 
the insane person during his disability shall be duly certified under seal 
of the proper probate court. 

CONVERSION OF PREEMPTION INTO HOMESTEAD CLAIMS. 

A person who has made settlement on a tract and filed his preemp- 
tion declaration therefor, may change his filing into a homestead if he 
continues in good faith to comply with the preemption laws until the 
change is effected; and the time during which he has resided upon and 
claimed the land as a preemptor will be credited upon the period of 
residence and cultivation required under the homestead laws. (Acts of 
March 3, 1877, 19 Stat. L., 404, May 27 and June 14, 1878, 20 Stat. L., 
63 and 113; Appendix No. 7, p. 167.) In his first homestead affidavit 
he must set forth the fact of a previous pieemption filing, the time of 
actual residence thereunder, and the intention to claim the benefit of 
such time, as provided for in the act. In making final proof on his 
homestead entry he is required, in addition to the usual affidavit and 
proof, to make the prescribed u preemption homestead affidavit." (Form 
4-071, p. 281.) 

LEAVES OF ABSENCE. 

There are three laws providing for leaves of absence in certain cases, 
that of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 854; Appendix No. 32, p. 187), which 
provides generally for cases of destruction or failure of crops, sickness, 
or other unavoidable casualty rendering the settler unable to support 
himself or persons dependent on him upon the land ; that of July 1, 1879 
(21 Stat. L., 48; Appendix No. 14, p. 173), providing for the special case 
of the devastation of grasshoppers; and that of January 19,1895 (28 
Stat. L., 634; Appendix No. 60, p. 236), providing for the relief of home- 
stead settlers who suffered from the forest fires which prevailed in 
northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan during the summer and 
autumn of 1894. 

The third section of the first act provides for permission to be granted 
in certain cases by the register and receiver of the proper district land 
office for parties claiming public land as settlers under existing laws to 
leave and be absent from the land settled upon for a specified period, not 
to exceed one year at any one time. The applicant for such permission 
will be required to submit testimony to consist of his own affidavit, cor- 
roborated by the affidavits of disinterested witnesses, executed before 
the register or receivei or some officer in the land district using a seal 
and authorized to administer oaths, setting forth in detail the facts on 
which he relies to support his application, and which must be sufficient 
to satisfy the register and receiver, who are enjoined to exercise their 
best and most careful judgment in the matter, that he is unable by 
reason of a total or partial destruction or failure of crops, sickness, or 
other unavoidable casualty to secure a support for himself or those 
dependent upon him upon the land settled upon. In case a leave of 
absence is granted the register and receiver will enter such action on 
their records, indicating the period for which granted, and promptly 
report the fact to this office, transmitting the testimony on which their 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 17 

action is based. In case of refusal the applicant will be allowed the 
right of appeal on the usual conditions. 
The facts to be shown embrace the following, viz: 

1. The character and date of the entry, date of establishing residence 
upon the land, and what improvements have been made thereon by the 
applicant. 

2. flow much of the land has been cultivated by the applicant, and 
for what period of time. 

3. In case of failure or injury to crop, what crops have failed or been 
injured or destroyed, to what extent, and the cause thereof. 

4. In case of sickness, what disease or injury, and to what extent 
claimant is prevented thereby from continuing upon the laud j and, if 
practicable, a certificate from a reliable physician should be furnished. 

5. In case of "other unavoidable casualty," the character, cause, and 
extent of such casualty, and its effect upon the land or the claimant. 

6. In each case full particulars upon which intelligent action may be 
based by the register and receiver. 

7. The dates from which and to which leave of absence is asked. 
The foregoing is not to be understood as imposing restrictions upon 

settlers over and above what the statute contains, or to modify the con- 
ditions therein prescribed for the enjoyment of the right, but merely to 
indicate what facts should be set forth in the required affidavits, leav- 
ing with the registers and receivers of the several district offices the 
duty of making application of the law to the particular cases presented, 
subject, of course, to the supervisory authority of the Department. 

The act of 1879, with reference to devastations of grasshoppers, has 
ceased to bear the importance it originally possessed, no serious grass- 
hopper incursions having occurred of late. The following are the 
official instructions thereunder: 

The first section of said act provides that homestead and preemption 
settlers on public lands where crops have been destroyed or seriously 
injured by grasshoppers may leave and be absent from said lands for a 
period not to exceed one year continuously, under such rules and regu- 
lations as the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall prescribe, 
being allowed afterwards to resume and perfect their settlement as 
though no such absence had occurred. The second section provides 
that the time for making final proof and payment by preemptors whose 
crops had been destroyed or injured as aforesaid may, at the discre- 
tion of the Commissioner, be extended for one year. (21 Stat. L., 48; 
Appendix No. 14, p. 173.) 

A settler desiring to take advantage of the provisions of this act should 
file with the register and receiver a written notice of intended absence, 
bearing his own signature, and embracing a statement that he had sus- 
tained loss or failure of his crops. This should be noted on the tract 
books for the protection of the claimant and the information of parties 
who might otherwise make settlement and attempt to obtain title. 

Preemption settlers desiring the extension of time provided for in the 
second section of the act should apply therefor through the same offi- 
cers, the application to be supported by the same character of proof, 
which should be made before the register or receiver of the district land 
office, or before any officer using a seal and authorized to administer 
oaths. 

Upon making final proof the settler having been absent under the 
first section should file his affidavit, with the affidavits of two or more 
witnesses, corroborative thereof, stating the particulars of the alleged 
destruction or serious injury of crops by grasshoppers. 
3073 2 



18 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

The particulars given should be such as to admit of a decision whether 
the absence was justified by law or not, and should specifically show at 
what time the party left the land and when he resumed his settlemeut. 

The affidavits required in cases arising under this section of the act 
must be made at the same time and place and before the same officer 
taking the other proofs. 

The first section of the act of January 19, 1895, provides for an exten- 
sion of time of two years within which to make final proof, and excuses 
temporary absence for any period within two years from the date of the 
act in all cases where any homestead settler, in the respective districts, 
was compelled to leave the land settled upon by him because of the 
prevailing forest fires of the summer and autumn of 1894, and by rea- 
son of the destruction of buildings or other property by such fires. 
The same relief is extended to the heirs of any settler who perished 
by such fires. Any settler desiring to receive the benefit of these 
provisions will be required to file in the district land office having 
jurisdiction over the land embraced in his or her claim an affidavit 
corroborated by two parties setting forth the number of the entry, if 
one has been made, and the description of the land; the date of settle- 
ment upon the land; the amount and character of the improvements 
placed thereon ; the character and extent of the damage to the settler's 
property caused by the fire; the date when the same occurred; whether 
or not the party was thereby obliged to leave the claim, and such other 
facts as may be relied upon as bringing the party within the scope of 
the act. Where a homestead settler perished by such fires, the heirs 
(i. e., the successors to the right under the homestead law, if they desire 
to receive the benefit of the provisions of said section), or one of them, 
will be required to furnish evidence consisting of the affidavit of the 
respective claimants, or, if a minor, of his or her guardian, corrobo- 
rated by two witnesses, setting forth the number of the entry, if one 
has been made, and the description of the land; the date of the settle- 
ment under which they claim; the character and value of the improve- 
ments, and the circumstances attending the death of the settler. The 
affidavits of the claimant and his corroborating witnesses maybe made 
before any officer authorized to administer oaths using a seal. 

Upon receipt of the required affidavits, the district land officers will 
forward the same to the General Land Office with their joint recom- 
mendation in regard to the case. Should the evidence be found satis- 
factory they will be so advised, whereupon they will make such notes 
upon their records for their future guidance as will indicate that the 
parties are entitled to the benefits of the provisions of the first section 
of the act, and in these cases they will not issue the usual notice of the 
expiration of time within which to make proof until ten years from the 
date of the entry, and no contest for abandonment or noncompliance 
with the law will be allowed against any of the entries until after the 
expiration of two years from the date of the act. En try men tempora- 
rily absent for any time within two years from the date of the act will 
not be required to show any additional period of residence when they 
make final proof, because of such absence, as the act explicitly directs 
that such absence shall be deemed constructive residence. 

Parties coming under the act Whose claims rest upon settlement alone 
are not relieved from the necessity of making their original homestead 
entries as heretofore required by the law and regulations in order to 
protect their settlement rights. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 19 



CLIMATIC HINDRANCES. 



The proviso annexed to section 2297, Revised Statutes, by amenda- 
tory act of March 3, 1881 (21 Stat. L., 511; Appendix No. 23, p. 181, 
which applies only to homestead settlers, provides that in case such 
settler has been prevented by climatic reasons from establishing actual 
residence upon his homestead within six months from date of entry, the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office may, in his discretion, allow 
him twelve months from that date in which to commence his residence. 

In such case the settler must, on final proof, file with the register and 
receiver his affidavit, duly corroborated by two credible witnesses, set- 
ting forth in detail the storms, floods, blockades by snow or ice, or other 
hindrances dependent upon climatic causes which rendered it impossible 
for him to commence residence within six months. A claimant cannot 
be allowed twelve mouths from entry when it can be shown that he 
might have established his residence on the land at an earlier day ; 
and a failure to exercise proper diligence in so doing as soon as possible 
after the climatic hindrances disappear will imperil his entry in case of 
a contest. 

HOMESTEAD CLAIMS NOT LIABLE FOR DEBT AND NOT SALABLE. 

No lands acquired under the provisions of the homestead laws are 
liable for the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issue of 
patent. (Sec. 2296, Kev. Stat. ; Appendix No. 1, p. 155.) 

The sale of a homestead claim by the settler to another party before 
becoming entitled to a patent vests no title or equities in the purchaser 
as against the United States. In making final proof, the settler is by 
law required to swear that no part of the land has been alienated except 
for church, cemetery, or school purposes, or the right of way of rail- 
roads, canals, or ditches for irrigation or drainage across it. (Sec. 2288, 
Eev. Stat., as amended by sec. 3 of the act of March 3, 1891, 26 Stat. L., 
1095; Appendix No. 44, p. 221.) 

ONLY ONE HOMESTEAD PRIVILEGE TO THE SAME PERSON PERMITTED. 

As the law allows but one homestead privilege (sec. 2298, Eev. Stat.; 
Appendix No. l,p. 155), a settler relinquishing or abandoning his claim 
can not thereafter make a second entry, although where the entry is 
canceled as invalid for some reason other than abandonment, and not 
the willful act of the party, he is not thereby debarred from entering 
again if in other respects entitled, and may have the fee and commis- 
sions paid on the canceled entry refunded on proper application, under 
the act of June 16, 1880 (21 Stat, L., 287; Appendix No. 21, p. 179; 
Hannah M. Brown, 4 L. D., 9; Goist v. Bottum, 5 L. D., 643; Jasper 
N. Shepherd, 6 L. D., 362). 

Where a party makes a selection of land for a homestead he must 
abide by his choice. If he has neglected to examine the character of 
the land prior to entry, and it proves to be infertile or otherwise unsat- 
isfactory, he must suffer the consequences of his own neglect. 

In some cases, however, where obstacles which could not have been 
foreseen, and which render it impracticable to cultivate the land, are 
discovered subsequently to entry (such as the impossibility of obtain- 
ing water by digging wells or otherwise), or where, subsequently to 
entry, and through no fault of the homesteader, the land becomes use- 
less for agricultural purposes (as where by the deposit of " tailings" in 



20 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the channel of a stream a dam is formed, causing the waters to over- 
flow), the entry may, in the discretion of the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office, be canceled and a second entry allowed; but, in 
the event of a new entry, the party will be required to show the same 
compliance with law in connection therewith as though he had not 
made a previous entry, and must pay the proper fees and commissions 
upon the same. 

Exceptions to the rule above stated have been made by two statutes 
of a general character, the acts of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 854, sec. 
2,- Appendix No. 32, p. 187), and of December 29, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 
599; Appendix No. 59, p. 236). Several statutes of a special charac- 
ter have been enacted having a local application, viz, statutes of March 
2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 1004, sees. 12, 13, 14, and 15; Appendix No. 
35, p. 204), February 13, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 759), and March 3, 1893 
(27 Stat. L., 563; Appendix No. 46, p. 228), in reference to certain 
Indian lands in Oklahoma ; September 29, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 496 , Appen- 
dix No. 40, p. 215), in reference to certain forfeited railroad lands ; and 
March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1043), in reference to the Orow Indian lands 
in Montana. These statutes make the exception in favor of parties 
who had made entries prior to the respective dates of approval thereof, 
leaving the rule to operate unimpaired with respect to cases thereafter 
arising. 

The general act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 854, sec. 2), allows in 
general terms any party who had theretofore made a homestead entry 
and who had not perfected title thereunder to make another homestead 
entry, while denying such right to any party who perfects title to lands 
under the preemption or homestead laws already initiated, and specific- 
ally provides that parties who have existing preemption rights may 
transmute them to homestead entries and perfect title to the lands 
under the homestead laws, although they may have heretofore had the 
benefit thereof. 

Therefore registers and receivers will not hereafter reject a home- 
stead application on the ground that the applicant can not take the 
prescribed oath that he has not previously made such an entry, but he 
will be required to show by affidavit, designating the entry formerly 
made by description of the land, number and date of entry, or other 
sufficient data, that it was made prior to the date of said act, and also 
that he has not since perfected a preemption or homestead title initiated 
prror to that date. In cases where the former entry was made subse- 
quently to the date of the act, the rule remains unchanged, as given 
above. 

The right to make a second entry under the act of December 29, 
1894, extends to such persons as have theretofore forfeited their entries 
for such reasons as would have entitled them to a leave of absence 
under section 3, act of March 2, 1889. 

The party applying to make second entry will be required to file, in 
the district land office having jurisdiction over the land he desires to 
enter, an application for a specific tract of land, and to submit testi- 
mony to consist of his own affidavit, corroborated by the affidavits of 
disinterested witnesses, executed before the register or receiver or some 
officer in the land district using a seal and authorized to administer 
oaths, setting forth in detail the facts on which he relies to support his 
application, and which must be sufficient to satisfy the register and 
receiver, who are enjoined to exercise their best and most careful judg- 
ment in the matter, that his former entry was in fact forfeited by reason 
of his inability, caused by a total or partial destruction or failure of 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 21 

crops, sickness, or other unavoidable casualty, to secure a support for 
himself or those dependent upon him, upon the land settled upon. 
The facts to be shown embrace the following, viz: 

1. The character and date of the entry, date of establishing resi- 
dence upon the land, and what improvements were made thereon by 
the applicant. 

2. How much land was cultivated by the applicant, and for what 
period of time. 

3. In case of failure or injury to crop, what crops failed or were 
injured or destroyed, to what extent, and the cause thereof. 

4. In case of sickness, what disease or injury, and to what extent the 
claimant was thereby prevented from continuing upon the land, and if 
practicable a certificate from a reliable physician should be furnished. 

5. In case of u other unavoidable casualty," the character, cause, and 
extent of such casualty, and its effect upon the land or the claimant. 

6. In each case full particulars upon which intelligent action may be 
based by the register and receiver. 

The foregoing is intended to indicate what facts should be set forth 
in the required affidavits, leaving with the register and receiver of the 
several district offices the duty of making application of the law to 
the particular cases presented. 

If the showing made by any party in support of his application 
under said act is satisfactory to the district land officers, they will allow 
him to make entry as in other cases. 

Parties claiming under any special act will be required to show them- 
selves entitled to the benefit thereof in accordance with such instruc- 
tions as may be issued thereunder. 

In regard to some of these laws instructions have already been pre- 
pared. (See pp. 48 and 75.) 

ADJOINING FARM HOMESTEADS. 

A person possessing the requisite qualifications under the homestead 
law (not having exhausted his right by previous entry thereunder), 
owning and residing on land not amounting in quantity to a quarter 
section, may enter other land lying contiguous to his own to an amount 
which shall not, with the land already owned by him, exceed in the 
aggregate 160 acres. For instance, if he has purchased or obtained from 
the Government (not under the homestead law) or from any other party 
40 acres of land he can, under the provisions of the homestead law, enter 
120 acres adjoining; if he is the owner of 80 acres he can enter another 
tract of 80 acres; if he is the owner of 120 acres he can enter 40 acres 
additional (sec. 2289, Kev. Stat.; Appendix Ko. 1, p. 153). The party 
must fulfill the requirements of the homestead law as to residence and 
cultivation, but will not be required to remove from the land which he 
originally owned in order to reside upon and cultivate that which he 
thus acquires under the homestead law, since the whole 160 acres are 
considered as constituting one farm or body of land, residence upon 
and cultivation of a portion of which is equivalent to residence upon 
and cultivation of the whole, except that patent for the adjoining home- 
stead will not be issued until five years from date of entry thereof. 

Adjoining farm entries under section 2289 of the Kevised Statutes 
are not to be confounded with additional entries under other statutes. 
(See p. 27.) 



22 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' HOMESTEAD RIGHTS. 

Any officer, soldier, seaman, or marine who served for not less than 
ninety days in the Army or Navy of the United States during the 
rebellion, and who was honorably discharged and has remained loyal to 
the Government, and who makes a homestead entry of 160 acres or less 
on any land subject to such entry, is entitled under section 2305 of the 
Eevised Statutes (Appendix No. 1, p. 156) to have the term of his 
service in the Army or Navy, not exceeding four years, deducted from 
the period of five years' residence required under the homestead laws. 

If the party was discharged from service on account of wounds or 
disabilities incurred in the line of duty the whole term of enlistment, 
not exceeding four years, is to be deducted from the homestead period 
of five years ; but no patent can issue to any homestead settler who has 
not resided upon, improved, and cultivated his homestead for a period 
of at least one year after he commenced his improvements. (Sec. 2305, 
Eev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 156.) 

Similar provisions are made in the act of June 16, 1898 (see appendix 
No. 79, p. 256), for the benefit of persons who served in the late war 
with Spain, or during any other war in which the United States may be 
engaged. 

A party applying to make entry under the provisions of section 2304 
must file with the register and receiver a certified copy of his certificate 
of discharge, showing when he enlisted and when he was discharged; 
or the affidavit of two respectable, disinterested witnesses corrobora- 
tive of the allegations contained in the prescribed affidavit (Form 4-065, 
p. 284) on these points, or, if neither can be procured, his own affidavit 
to that effect. 

A SOLDIER MAY FILE A DECLARATORY STATEMENT IN PERSON. 

The filing must be accompanied by the oath of the soldier, stating 
his residence and post-office address, and setting forth that the claim 
is made for his exclusive use and benefit, for the purpose of actual set- 
tlement and cultivation, and not, either directly or indirectly, for the 
use or benefit of any other person ; that he has not theretofore made a 
homestead entry or filed a declaratory statement under the homestead 
law; that he is not the proprietor of more than 160 acres of land in 
any State or Territory, and that since August 30, 1890, he has not 
entered under the land laws of the United States, or filed upon, a quan- 
tity of land, agricultural in character, which, with the tracts applied 
for, would make more than 320 acres (Form 4-546, p. 283). The fee is 
$2, except in the Pacific States and Territories, where it is $3. 

A soldier's claim may be filed by an aoent. 

Any such officer, soldier, sailor, or marine may file his claim for a 
tract of land through an agent, and may have six months thereafter 
within which to make his actual entry and commence his settlement 
and improvements upon the land. (Eev. Stat., 2309; Appendix No. 1, 
p. 157.) 

In addition to the oath heretofore prescribed, the oath, in case of 
filing by an agent, must further declare the name and authority of the 
agent and the date of the power of attorney or other instrument creat- 
ing the agency, adding that the name of the agent was inserted therein 
before its execution. It should also state in terms that the agent has 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 23 

no right or interest, direct or indirect, in the filing- of such declaratory 
statement. (Form 4-545, p. 283.) 

The agent must file (in addition to his power of attorney) his own 
oath to the effect that he has no interest, either present or prospective, 
direct or indirect, in the claim; that the same is filed for the sole bene- 
fit of the soldier, and that no arrangement has been made whereby 
said agent has been empowered at any future time to sell or relinquish 
such claim, either as agent or by filing an original relinquishment of 
the claimants. (Form 4-545, p. 283.) 

As implied by the requirement of the oath, a soldier will be held to 
have exhausted his homestead right by the filing of his declaratory 
statement; it being manifest that the right to file is a privilege granted 
to soldiers in addition to the ordinary privilege only in the matter of 
giving them power to hold their claims for six months after selection 
before entry, but is not a license to abandon such selection with the 
right thereafter to make a regular homestead entry independently of 
such filing. This is clear from the statutory language. Section 2304 
provides that " the settler shall be allowed six months, after locating 
his homestead and filing his declaratory statement, within which to 
make his entry and commence his settlement and improvement;" and 
section 2309 requires him "in person" to "make his actual entry, com- 
mence settlement and improvement on the same, and thereafter fulfill 
all the requirements of law." These must be done on "the same" land 
selected and located by the filing. 

The foregoing rule, however, will not be construed to require the rejec- 
tion of an application to enter the tract filed upon after the lapse of six 
months, when climatic reasons are shown, which in case of an actual 
entry would, under the act of March 3, 1881 (21 Stat. L., 511 ; Appendix 
No. 23, p. 181), justify an allowance of one year for establishing resi- 
dence; nor in cases where the failure results from sickness, misfortune, 
or any insurmountable cause, which shall be properly alleged and satis- 
factorily shown, and where no adverse right has intervened. Where 
such cause has prevented entry and an adverse right has been admitted, 
it will be held proper within the discretion of the General Land Office to 
allow an entry upon another tract: Provided, That it shall be shown to 
the full satisfaction of the Commissioner that the default was practically 
beyond the power of the claimant to avoid (circular of December 15, 
1882, 1 L. D., 648). 

Following the accepted practice in preemption cases, the filing of a 
declaratory statement will not be held to bar the admission of filings 
and entries by others; but any person making entry or claim during 
the period allowed by law for entry of the soldier will do so subject to 
his right; and the soldier's application when offered within such time 
will be allowed as a matter of right and the intervening claimant 
will be notified and afforded an opportunity to be heard. 

In case the register and receiver have cause to believe that any filing 
offered for record is not presented in good faith, they will reject the 
same, allowing an appeal from their action according to the regular 
practice. 

Entries can not be made for a soldier or sailor by an agent or attorney. 

The entry can be made only by the soldier or sailor, and he must 
commence his settlement on the land within six months after his filing, 
and must continue to reside on the land and cultivate it for such period 
as, added to his military or naval service, will make five years. But 
he must actually reside upon the land at least one year, whatever may 
have been the period of his military or naval service. 



24 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

The widow, or, in case of her death or remarriage, the guardian of 
minor children, may complete a filing made by the soldier or sailor as 
above, and patent will issue accordingly. 

In case of the death of any person who would be entitled to a home- 
stead under the provisions of section 2304, Eevised Statutes, his widow, 
or, in case of her death or remarriage, his minor orphan children, by 
a guardian duly appointed and officially accredited at the Department 
of the Interior, may make the filing and entry in the same manner that 
the soldier or sailor might have done, subject to all the provisions of 
the homestead laws in respect to settlement and improvement; and the 
whole term of service, or in case of death during the term of enlist- 
ment, the entire period of enlistment in the military or naval service 
shall be deducted from the time otherwise required to perfect the title 
to the same extent as might have been allowed the soldier. (Sec. 2307, 
Eev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 156.) 

The ruling hereinbefore stated relative to the widow or minor children 
of another deceased homestead party as to actual residence is equally 
applicable to the widow or minor children of a deceased sailor or sol- 
dier; if the land is cultivated in good faith the law will be regarded as 
substantially complied with, although the widow or children may not 
actually reside upon the land. 

In case of widows, the prescribed evidence of military service of the 
husband must be furnished, with affidavit of widowhood, giving date 
of the husband's death. 

In case of minor orphan children, in addition to the prescribed evi- 
dence of military service of the father, proof of death or remarriage of 
the mother must be furnished. Evidence of death may be the testi- 
mony of two witnesses or a physician's certificate duly attested. Evi- 
dence of marriage may be certified copy of marriage certificate, or of 
the record of same, or testimony of two witnesses to the marriage 
ceremony. 

Minor orphan children can act only by their duly appointed guardi- 
ans, who must file certified copies of the powers of guardianship, which 
must be transmitted to the General Land Office by the registers and 
receivers with their abstracts of soldiers' declaratory statements. 

COMMUTATION OF HOMESTEAD ENTRIES. 

If a homestead settler does not wish to remain five years on a tract 
he may pay for it with cash. Military bounty land warrants, agricul- 
tural college scrip, and private land claim scrip may be located in lieu 
of cash payment. 

To entitle a homestead claimant to the land upon making such pay- 
ment, under section 2301, Eevised Statutes, as originally enacted, he 
must prove his actual settlement, improvement, and cultivation for not 
less than six months preceding date of proof. Eesidence on the land 
must be actual and continuous for the prescribed period. 

Parties commuting homestead entries can not be excused from any 
cause for failure to live upon, improve, and cultivate the land for the 
required period. They are not obliged to make proof in the short time 
in which commutation is allowed, and when such proof is made full 
compliance with law must be satisfactorily shown. 

Proof of settlement and cultivation for the prescribed period is to be 
made in the same manner as in preemption cases. (See pp. 262-263.) 

A person commuting a homestead entry by false swearing when he 
has not actually resided upon the land and improved and cultivated it 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 25 

as required by law, forfeits all right to the land and to the purchase money 
paid, and in addition thereto renders himself liable to criminal prosecu- 
tion. (M. F. Soto, 6 L. D., 383.) 

The sixth section of the act of March 3, 1891, amends section 2301, 
Eevised Statutes, so as to require that parties proposing to commute 
their homestead entries to cash shall make proof of settlement and of 
residence aud cultivation* of the land for a period of fourteen months 
from the date of the entry, and the provisions of the section as amended 
are made to apply to lands on the ceded portion of the Sioux Reserva- 
tion, in South Dakota, without, however, relieving the settlers thereon 
from any payments now required by law. (See pp. 61-62 and 223.) 

This provision must be enforced in all cases of commutation in which 
the commuted entry was made after the date of said act, but the right 
to commute in cases in which the entry was made prior to that date is 
not affected thereby. 

The remarks as to entries under the said section 2301 as originally 
enacted apply also to entries sought to be made under said section as 
amended, except as to the period of residence required. 

By the act of Congress of June 3, 1896 (29 Stat., 197 ; Appendix No. 71, 
p. 243), commutations of homestead entries, prematurely allowed, since 
the passage of the act of March 3, 1891, in which there was no fraud 
practiced by the entryman, and there was at least six months' actual 
residence on the land, are confirmed. By the same act it was provided 
that the fourteen months' period of residence required for commuta- 
tion by existing law shall run from the date of settlement, and not from 
the date of the entry, as was provided by the said sixth section, act of 
March 3, 1891. 

The joint resolution of September 30, 1890, with respect to the exten- 
sion of time for payment is not applicable to a commuted homestead 
entry. See case of Stillman B. Moulton, 23 L. D., 304. 

For information as to the commutation of entries in Oklahoma see 
pages 50-60. 

The second and third sections of the act of January 19, 1895 (28 
Stat. L., 634; Appendix No. 60, p. 236), contain special provisions for 
the completion of title to lands claimed under the homestead laws which 
were swept by the forest fires that prevailed in Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
and Michigan during the summer and autumn of 1894. 

The second section provides that homestead settlers whose property 
was destroyed by such forest fires, or in case the settler perished by 
the fire, then his or her heirs, or, in other words, the successors to his 
or her homestead right, as defined in section 2291, Revised Statutes, 
may, upon satisfactory proof of compliance with the law upon the part 
of the settler to the date of the fire, and upon payment of the minimum 
price under existing statutes, receive a patent for the land embraced 
in the claim of such settler. The procedure in such cases, where the 
original entry has been made, will be the same as is now required in 
making homestead proof, except the compliance with the law need 
be shown only to the date of the fire, and, in addition, proof will be 
required as to the date of the forest fire and the extent of the damage 
done to the claimant's property thereby, or, where the settler has per- 
ished by the fire, proof as to the time and manner of his death. The 
payment required to be made for the land is the "minimum price under 
existing statutes," which in ordinary commutation of homestead entries 
under section 2301, Revised Statutes, is $1.25 per acre, except where 
the lands are within the limits of railroad land grants and thereby 
enhanced in price to $2.50 per acre, and in other cases such amount as 



26 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

is required by any special laws which may govern the disposal of the 
specific tracts of land. 

In all cases where parties intend to avail themselves of the benefit of 
the said second section, under claims resting upon settlement alone at 
the time of the fire, they will be required, when they apply to make the 
original entry, if such application is not made within three months of 
the date of the settlement, to file affidavits explaining why such entry 
had not been made sooner. 

Section 3 provides for cases in which the forest fires only partially 
burned the timber on the homestead, and the settler may desire to pur- 
chase only a portion thereof, retaining the remainder to be perfected 
under the general provisions of the homestead laws. 

In such cases, and when the quantity of timber burned does not exceed 
75,000 feet of merchantable green timber, the entryman may file with 
the register and receiver of the district in which his claim lies a sworn 
statement setting forth the fact that the timber on his claim was 
destroyed or injured by the forest fires during the summer and autumn 
of 1894, giving a description of his entry, the date and number thereof, 
and a description of each of the smallest legal subdivisions of his claim 
upon which the green timber has been injured or destroyed by said fires, 
together with an estimate of the amount of such timber so injured or 
destroyed upon each of said smallest legal subdivisions; also that he 
has complied with the requirements of the homestead law up to date. 
This statement must be corroborated by two witnesses who have actual 
knowledge of the conditions existing on the claim. The entryman 
must designate which of the legal subdivisions of his claim on which 
the timber was burned he desires to purchase under this act, and with 
his application to purchase and sworn statement above required he 
must tender the necessary amount of money to complete the purchase 
at the minimum price per acre. 

ACT OF JUNE 15, 1880. 

A further right of making cash payment for lands originally entered 
as a homestead accrues under the act of June 15, 1880 (21 Stat. L v 237 ; 
Appendix No. 20, p. 178), which allows any party who had entered a 
homestead prior to that date (or any person to whom such party may 
have attempted to transfer his right by a bona fide instrument in 
writing) to pay the Government price (less the fee and commissions) 
for the land covered by such entry, provided it was originally subject 
to entry, and provided it had not been subsequently entered by any 
other person under the provisions of law (Maughan, 1 L. D., 25 ; Weaver, 
id., 53; Miller, id., 57; Bishop, id., 69; George E. Sandford, 5 L. D., 
535). He can not, however, be permitted to exercise such right so as 
to bar the preferred right of a contestant under act of May 14, 1880 (21 
Stat. L., 140; Appendix No. 15, p. 174), after contest initiated (Freise 
v. Hobson, 4 L. D., 580). 

In case the original homestead party applies to purchase, if he has 
lost his duplicate receipt he must make oath that he has not, prior to 
the passage of said act, transferred nor attempted to transfer his home- 
stead rights under said entry, and that he has not assigned his right to 
receive the repayment of the fees, commissions, and excess payments paid 
thereon. The register will certify to the receiver the amount to be 
allowed as credit for fees and commissions already paid, the applicant 
first making oath that said fees and commissions have not been repaid 
and that no application for such repayment has been made. In case 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 27 

he had attempted to transfer his right he may still be permitted to 
purchase upon tiling proof of the consent of the person to whom such 
transfer was attempted to be made. 

ATTEMPTED TRANSFER OF HOMESTEAD RIGHT. 

In case a party to whom a homestead settler has attempted to trans- 
fer his right desires to take advantage of the act, the register and 
receiver will require the instrument in writing by which it was sought 
to transfer such homestead right to be filed, together with the best evi- 
dence attainable of the bona fide character of the transfer, including 
the affidavit of the party who seeks to purchase. 

In case of doubt as to the propriety of allowing the application to 
purchase, they should refer all the papers to the General Land Office, 
accompanied by an expression of their opinion based upon a full recital 
of the facts. 

FORM OF ENTRY. 

The application must be made as in ordinary cash entry (Form 4-001, 
p. 271) and must be accompanied by the receiver's duplicate homestead 
receipt, or, if that has been lost or destroyed, by an affidavit setting forth 
such fact and giving the register's and receiver's number and date of 
the original homestead entry. It must also be stated in the application 
that the same is made under the second section of the act of June 15, 
1880. 

Final homestead proof not being required in these cases, no adver- 
tisement or notice of intention to make final proof is necessary, and no 
final homestead fees are to be paid or collected. 

Warrants and scrip made receivable by law for lands subject to sale 
at private entry or in commutation of homestead or preemption rights 
are receivable for lands purchased under this act. 

Where land purchased under this act is paid for with warrants or 
scrip there would be no claim for repayment on account of the fee and 
commissions paid on the original homestead entry; and the existing 
rule must be observed, that where the value of warrants or scrip exceeds 
that of the lands entered therewith no repayment on account of such 
excess is authorized, but the warrant or scrip applied must be fully 
surrendered. (See " Warrant locations.") 

ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD ENTRIES. 

The election of a qualified party, when filing for a homestead, to take 
less than the law allows him is construed as a waiver of his claim for 
a larger quantity, and he can not make up the difference by an addi- 
tional entry, except in cases where subsequent legislation has provided 
therefor. 

Additional homestead entries are allowed by several acts of Congress. 
The act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 854; Appendix No. 32, p. 187), is 
of a general nature as regards the parties to be benefited, and there 
are a number of special statutes allowing such additional entries for 
the benefit of certain classes of claimants, viz: Section 2306, Eevised 
Statutes (Appendix No. 1, p. 156), providing for soldiers' additional 
homestead rights in certain cases; and acts of March 3, 1879 (20 Stat. 
L., 472) ; July 1, 1879 (21 Stat. L., 46), and May 6, 1886 (24 Stat. L., 22; 
Appendix Nos. 11, 13, 28, pp. 171, 172, 183), for the benefit of settlers 
within the limits of land grants for railroads. 



28 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

The first-mentioned act contains two sections that provide for addi- 
tional entries, as follows : 

1. The fifth section provides for an additional entry of land which 
shall be contiguous to the land embraced in the original entry, for 
which the final proof of residence and cultivation made on the original 
entry shall be sufficient, but of which no party shall have the benefit 
who does not, at the date of his application therefor, own and occupy 
the land covered by his original entry, and which shall not be permitted, 
or if permitted shall be canceled, if the original entry should fail, for 
any reason, prior to patent, or should appear to be illegal or fraudulent. 
Applicants for additional entries under this section will be required to 
produce evidence that they own and occupy the land embraced in their 
original entries, to be properly described by legal subdivisions and by 
reference to the number and date of the original entry, and the evidence 
to consist of their own affidavits, corroborated by the affidavits of dis- 
interested witnesses, executed before the register or receiver or some 
officer in the land district using a seal and authorized to administer 
oaths. In addition to this, the proper homestead application and affi- 
davit must be filed, which should be on Forms 4-018 and 4-063, respec- 
tively (pp. 282 and 275), properly modified so as to show the section and 
act under which application is made, and the affidavit modified by 
referring to the original entry on which the additional is based, and 
setting forth that the applicant owns and occupies the land covered 
thereby. 

2. The sixth section admits of an additional entry of land, which 
need not be contiguous to the land embraced in the original, by par- 
ties who have complied with the conditions of the law with regard to 
the original entry and have had the final papers issued therefor, and 
with the condition of residence and cultivation of the land embraced 
in the additional entry, to be made and proved as in ordinary home- 
stead entries. 

Application and affidavit will be required in entries under this sec- 
tion (6), and the same forms (4-018 and 4-063, pp. 282 and 275) may be 
used as above stated in reference to entries under the fifth section. 
The affidavit should set forth the description of the tract embraced in 
the former entry, the date when, and the office where made, but it 
need not be shown that the applicant owns and occupies the land cov- 
ered thereby. 

The right to make entry under section 5, act of March 2, 1889, extends 
only to cases where the original entry was made before the passage of 
the act, but the right to make entry under section 6 thereof extends 
to cases where the original entry was made either before or after the 
passage of said act, if the application is otherwise within the terms of 
said section. (Case of Nancy A. Stinson, 25 L. D., 113.) 

In additional entries under both sections the usual homestead fees 
and commissions will be required to be paid, and receipts will be issued 
therefor. Notes will be made on the entry papers and opposite the 
entries on the monthly abstracts referring to the section and the act 
under which allowed. 

Neither of these additional entries is to be confounded with the 
adjoining farm homestead provided for by another statute. (See p. 21.) 

Among the several acts above mentioned as allowing additional 
entries to be made to complete the maximum quantity of 160 acres, with 
prescribed conditions, differing more or less in their requirements, the 
later acts contain no terms to repeal the earlier acts, and there is no 
such repugnance in their provisions as would work a repeal by implica- 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 29 

tion. Parties entitled to claim under one or another of the acts may 
elect under which to proceed, and their claims will be adjusted accord- 
ing to the provisions of the acts under which they respectively elect to 
proceed. 

ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD ENTRIES UNDER SPECIAL ACTS. 
soldier's additional homestead entry. 

Any officer, soldier, seaman, or marine who served for not less than 
ninety days in the Army or Navy of the United States during the 
rebellion, who had, prior to June 22, 1874, the date of approval of the 
Eevised Statutes, made a homestead entry of less than 160 acres, may 
enter an additional quantity of land, adjacent to his former entry or 
elsewhere, sufficient to make, with the previous entry, 160 acres. (Kev. 
Stat., 2306; Appendix No. 1, p. 156.) This right was extended by sec- 
tion 2307, Revised Statutes, to the widow, if unmarried; otherwise to the 
minor orphan children by proper guardian. 

The exercise of this right was formerly regarded as a personal one, 
and not transferable, but under authority of the decision of the Supreme 
Court of the United States in the case of Webster v. Luther (163 U. S., 
331) it is now held to be assignable without restriction. 

The party desiring to make an additional entry, and being entitled 
thereto, must make his application at the land office of the district in 
which the land he wishes to enter is situated, in the same manner as in 
case of an original entry. (Form No. 4-008, p. 284.) 

In addition to the usual homestead affidavit the claimant must make 
a special affidavit showing — 

First. His identity as the soldier he represents himself to be, recit- 
ing his military service and stating his present residence and post- 
office address. 

Second. The facts in detail, setting forth his right to make additional 
entry. Proper reference must be made to the original homestead entry, 
giving the name of the district office wherein it was made, the date 
and number of the entry, and the description of the land. 

Third. That he has not in any manner previously exercised his addi- 
tional right, but that the same remains in him unimpaired. 

The foregoing affidavits must be sworn to and subscribed in the pres- 
ence of the register or receiver, or other officer authorized to admin- 
ister oaths in homestead entries, and the officer administering the oath 
must certify to the identity and credibility of the party appearing 
before him. 

An application to make an additional entry, not accompanied by a 
certificate of right from this office, must be forwarded by the local land 
office to this office for consideration and for instructions relative to 
allowing the entry. Proper notation should be made by the local offi- 
cers on their records, showing the pendency of such application and 
the consequent segregation of the land. (See Appendix, circular 
letters of February 18, 1890, and December 4, 1896, pp. 259-260, 
respectively.) 

The foregoing rules will not be deemed to apply to cases where the 
right to an additional entry, under the practice formerly prevailing, 
has been certified by the General Land Office. Certificates issued 
under the practice formerly prevailing will be recognized, and entries 
allowed according to such practice. 

The register and receiver will, after the entry is authorized, require 
the party to pay the same fee and commissions as in cases of original 



30 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

entry; the receiver will issue his receipt for the money paid, and these 
papers will receive the current date and the proper numbers in their 
homestead series. Then, to complete the transaction — it being an object, 
for the convenience of business, that the additional entry papers and 
the final papers therefor in such cases shall be kept separate and dis- 
tinct — the party will make payment of the usual final commissions on 
the entered tract, for which the receiver will issue his receipt; the regis- 
ter will thereupon issue his final certificate for the additional tract 
(Form 4-197, p. 285), the receipt and certificate to bear their proper 
numbers in the final homestead series, likewise a reference to the origi- 
nal entry and to the final certificate thereon by their numbers, and also 
by their district where the party's first entry shall have been made in 
a different district. 

By the act of March 3, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 593 ; Appendix No. 52, p. 232), 
provision is made that where soldiers' additional homestead entries 
have been made or initiated upon a certificate of the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office of the right to make such entry, and the cer- 
tificate of right is found to be erroneous or invalid for any cause, the 
party in interest thereunder on making proof of his purchase may, if 
there is no adverse claimant, perfect his title by payment of the Gov- 
ernment price for the land, but no person may acquire more than 160 
acres through the location of any such certificate. 

By the act of August 18, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 397 ; Appendix No. 56, p. 
234), all certificates of right, regularly issued by the General Land 
Office, showing that the parties named therein are entitled to make 
soldiers' additional homestead entries, are declared to be valid not- 
withstanding any attempted sale or transfer. Where such certificates 
have been or may hereafter be sold or transferred, the sale or transfer 
thereof is not to be regarded as invalidating the right, but the same 
shall be good and valid in the hands of bona fide purchasers for value, 
and all entries made by such purchasers therewith shall be approved 
and patent shall issue in the names of the assignees, but before approv- 
ing such entries for patent the transferee shall file in this office satis- 
factory proof of ownership and of bona fide purchase for value. 

To enable assignees of these certificates to exercise in their own 
names the right of entry confirmed by this statute it is directed that 
the certificate itself shall in each instance prior to any entry by the 
assignee be presented to the General Land Office for examination and 
additional certification covering the fact of assignment. Holders of 
such certificates desiring to exercise a right of entry in their own names 
must file such certificates in the General Land Office, together with 
satisfactory proof of ownership and of bona fide purchase for value. 
If, upon examination, the proof so filed is satisfactory, an additional 
certificate will be attached to the original authorizing the location 
thereof, or entry of land therewith, in the name of the assignee or his 
assigns. 

To prevent confusion and provide a uniform rule for the transfer and 
assignment of soldiers' additional certificates recertified to owners and 
bona fide purchasers under said act the following mode of procedure 
should be observed : 

1. The assignment may be written or printed upon a separate sheet 
or sheets of paper, to be securely attached to the package of papers 
constituting the certificate. 

2. Each assignment must be duly attested and acknowledged as pre- 
scribed by the circular of February 18, 1896 (p. 1, Subdivision I, para- 
graphs 4, 5, 6, and 7), respecting the assignment of bounty land 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 31 

warrants, and the officer taking the acknowledgment must certify that 
at the date of the assignment the certificate was attached to said 
assignment and was in the possession of and presented by the assignor. 

3. The forms printed on pp. 300-1 are prescribed for use in making 
assignments. These forms, or others containing the substantial matter 
thereof, will be accepted as a compliance with these instructions. 

This law does not prohibit the location of said certificates by the 
holders as heretofore, either by the soldiers in person or by others acting 
as attorneys for the soldiers and in the names of the soldiers. There- 
fore, when application is made to locate such a certificate by the holder 
in the name of the soldier the entry of land under said certificate will 
be allowed if the application papers are regular in all other respects, 
and the homestead papers and final certificate and receipt will be issued 
in the name of the soldier under the instructions heretofore given in 
reference to such cases, which are still operative. 

All applications to locate certificates of additional homestead right 
must describe a particular tract and be presented at the local land 
office having jurisdiction over the land desired to be entered, and must 
be accompanied by the usual nonmineral affidavit. 

The instructions above given relative to certificates of right recerti- 
fied under act of August 18, 1894 (28 Stat., 397), apply with equal force 
as to the requisites of assignments of uncertified additional homestead 
rights, and the forms of assignment prescribed therein may be modi- 
fied so that the same shall contain the substantial matter thereof. 

An assignee of an uncertified right desiring to make an additional 
entry under this section must present his application as the assignee 
of the soldier for a specific tract of land to the register and receiver at 
the local office in whose jurisdiction the land lies, accompanying the 
same by a complete assignment duly executed, attested, and acknowl- 
edged as prescribed respecting the assignment of bounty land warrants. 
The identity of the original assignor with the soldier and original 
entryman must be established by the affidavits of two witnesses hav- 
ing personal knowledge of the facts, or, if such witnesses can not be 
procured, a satisfactory reason must be given and other facts presented 
tending to establish such identity. 

The applicant must furnish his affidavit of bona fide ownership at 
the date of the application, evidence of his citizenship, the usual non- 
mineral affidavit, and the affidavit of the soldier showing that he has 
in no manner exercised his homestead right since making the original 
entry, either by making an additional entry under said section or under 
any other act. 

The required affidavits must be sworn to and subscribed in the pres- 
ence of the register or receiver or other officer authorized by law to 
administer oaths in homestead cases, and the officer administering the 
oath must certify to the identity and credibility of the party appearing 
before him. 

ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD ENTRIES WITHIN RAILROAD LIMITS. 

Homestead settlers within the limits of grants for railroads or wagon 
roads, except grants of even sections in Alabama, Mississippi, and 
Louisiana, who were restricted to 80 acres by law previous to March 3, 
1879 (or in Missouri and Arkansas prior to July 1, 1879), may enter an 
additional 80 acres adjoining the land embraced in the original entry, 
if such additional land is subject to entry; or if the party so elects he 
may surrender his original entry and make a new entry for 160 acres 



32 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

elsewhere. (Acts March ,3, 1879, 20 Stat. L., 472; July 1, 1879, 21 Stat. 
L., 46; Appendix Nos. 11 and 13, pp. 171 and 172.) 

The following paragraphs I and II are here presented in explanation 
of the history of the legislation just referred to, viz: 

I. The laws extending the homestead privilege, embraced in sections 
2289 to 2312 of the Revised Statutes, give to every citizen, and to those 
who have declared their intention to become citizens, the right to a 
homestead on surveyed lands, since extended to unsurveyed lands by 
act of May 14, 1880 (Appendix No. 15, p. 174). This right was lim- 
ited by section 2289 of the Eevised Statutes, as the maximum quantity, 
to 160 acres of the class of ordinary public lands held by law at $1.25 
per acre, when disposed of to cash purchasers, or 80 acres of the class 
of lands embraced in the alternate sections along the lines of railroads 
or other works of internal improvement reserved to the United States 
in acts of Congress making grants of lands in aid of the construction 
of such works, and the price thereof increased to $2.50 per acre. By 
act of Congress of March 3, 1879, it was enacted that from and after its 
passage "the even sections within the limits of any grant of public 
lands to any railroad company, or to any military road company, or to 
any State in aid of any railroad or military road, shall be open to settlers 
under the homestead laws to the extent of 160 acres to each settler," 
thus doing away in this class of entries with the distinction between 
ordinary minimum and double minimum lands, or lands held at $1.25 
per acre and lands held at $2.50 per acre, which had existed under sec- 
tion 2289 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States, so far as the 
double minimum lands may be found in even sections within the limits 
of land grants for railroads or military roads. These provisions did 
not extend so as to embrace any double minimum lands in odd numbered 
sections or in the limits of grants for any other description of public 
works. By act of July 1, 1879, the same provisions were extended to 
the odd sections in the States of Missouri and Arkansas, where the odd 
sections were reserved to the United States, the price of the lands 
therein enhanced, and the even sections granted for the purposes ol 
improvement. Both acts were inoperative in any case where the even 
sections were granted, the odd being reserved, and not within the States 
of Missouri and Arkansas, as in certain grants in Alabama, Mississippi, 
and Louisiana; but the double minimum lands in the two last-mentioned 
States having been brought into market at the enhanced price prior to 
January 1, 1861, are now reduced to $1.25 per acre under the third 
section of the act of June 15, 1880. 

II. The act of March 3, 1879, in addition to its provision already 
referred to, provides, first, that " any person who has under existing 
laws taken a homestead on any even section within the limits of any 
railroad or military-road land grant, and who by existing laws shall 
have been restricted to 80 acres, may enter under the homestead laws an 
additional 80 acres adjoining the land embraced in his original entry, if 
such additional land be subject to entry," without payment of fees and 
commissions, and that " the residence and cultivation of such person 
upon and of the land embraced in his original entry shall be considered 
residence and cultivation for the same length of time upon and of the 
land embraced in his additional entry, and shall be deducted from the 
five years' residence required by law," with the proviso, however, that 
in no case shall patent issue "until the person has actually, and in con- 
formity with the homestead laws, occupied, resided upon, and cultivated 
the land" embraced in his additional entry "at least one year." The 
act of July 1, 1879, is similar in effect as regards persons who had taken 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 33 

homesteads on the odd numbered sections reserved from such grants 
in Missouri and Arkansas. 

The right to make an additional entry under these acts or to surren- 
der the original entry and make a new one descends to the statutory 
successor to the original homestead right, but is not subject to sale or 
assignment. The additional or the new entry, as the case may be, can 
be made only by the homestead claimant, or, if he be dead, by the 
widow, devisee, or other successor to the right. 

An entry may be made under these acts, although the original entry 
was commuted by cash payment. 

A woman who has married since making original entry is not thereby 
disqualified from making an additional entry under these acts. 

A person making additional entry of 80 acres or new entry after sur- 
render and cancellation of his original entry can do so without payment 
of further fees and commissions. (Acts March 3, 1879, 20 Stat. L., 472, 
and July 1,1879, 21 Stat. L.,46; Appendix Nos. 11 and 13, pp. 171 and 172.) 

Where additional entry is made on lands adjoining an original entry 
upon which proof has been made no further proof or payment is 
required additional to the proof and payment already made on the 
original entry. (Act May 6, 1886, 24 Stat. L., 22; Appendix No. 
28, p. 183.) 

But in case of an additional entry, when proof on the original entry 
has not been made, the proof and payment to cover both the original 
and additional entry must be made at the same time and in the same 
manner, and where a party surrenders his original entry and makes a 
new one he must comply with the law in respect to residence, improve- 
ment, and cultivation for such period as, with his residence on the origi- 
nal tract, will make five years, and he must, in auy event, reside upon, 
improve, and cultivate the land embraced in the new entry for at least 
one year. 

In applying for an additional entry the party must make affidavit 
before the register or receiver, or other officer authorized to administer 
oaths in homestead cases, describing the tract upon which he resides. 
(Form 4-086, p. 282.) If final proof on the original entry has not been 
made, he must submit proof setting forth the particulars of his exist- 
ing entry and of his compliance with legal requirements regarding the 
same (Form 4-369, p. 278), and he must make application according to 
Form 4-018, page 282. 

The applicant for an additional homestead entry must swear that he 
did not serve in the Army or Navy of the United States for ninety days 
or more; for persons who thus served were not restricted to 80 acres 
under previously existing laws, and consequently are not entitled to 
the benefits of the acts amending said laws approved March 3, 1879, 
and July 1, 1879. 

In order to entitle a homestead en try man to an additional entry under 
the act of March 3 or July 1, 1879, and to a patent for such additional 
entry under the act of May 6, 1886, his original entry must be a valid, 
bona fide entry, and the proofs presented in support thereof must have 
been accepted by this office. 

Eegisters and receivers will therefore in no case (except where patent 
has issued on the original entry) issue a final certificate on the addi- 
tional entry until they have been advised by this office that final proof 
on the original entry has been approved and the additional entry 
accepted. When so advised they will issue final certificate on the 
additional entry, without cost to the entryman, and forward the same 
to this office. (Circular of July 26, 1886, 5 L. D., 128.) 
3073 3 



34 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

PARTIAL WAIVER OF HOMESTEAD RIGHTS. 

The election of a qualified party, when filing for a homestead, to take 
less than the law allows him, is construed as a waiver of his claim for 
a larger quantity; and the same in case of an adjoining farm entry or 
soldier's additional entry. 

(But when an additional homestead claim was filed for 40 acres by a 
homesteader whose original entry was 120 acres, and 40 acres of this 
original entry had been canceled, but notice of the cancellation had 
not reached him when he filed for the additional 40 acres, this was not 
considered a waiver of the full amount, since he filed for all that he 
supposed was due him.) 

The acts of March 3 and July 1, 1879 (providing that a person who 
had taken a homestead to the extent of 80 acres within the granted 
limits of a railroad grant, on the alternate sections belonging to the 
Government, might enter an additional contiguous 80 acres), are not 
construed as allowing a person who elected to take but 40 acres under 
the original homestead law to take an additional 120 acres under these 
amendatory acts. 

INDIAN HOMESTEADS. 

By the provisions of the Indian appropriation act of July 4, 1884 (23 
Stat. L., 96; Appendix No. 27, p. 183), any Indians who might then be 
located on public lands, or should thereafter so locate, may avail them- 
selves of the privileges of the homestead laws as fully and to the same 
extent as citizens of the United States, but without payment of fees or 
commissions on account of such entries or proofs. 

Indian homesteads can not be commuted and are not subject to sale, 
assignment, lease, or incumbrance. All patents issued for Indian home- 
steads under this act must be of the legal effect and declare that the 
United States does and will hold the land thus entered for the period 
of twenty-five years in trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian 
by whom such entry shall have been made, or, in case of his decease, 
of his widow and heirs, according to the laws of the State or Territory 
where such land is located, and that at the expiration of said period 
the United States will convey the same by patent to said Indian or his 
widow and heirs, as aforesaid, in fee, discharged of said trust and free 
of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever. 

When any Indian applies to enter laud under said act he will be 
allowed to do so without payment of fees or commissions, but will be 
required to furnish a certificate from the agent of the tribe to which he 
belongs that he is, an Indian of the age of 21 years, or the head of a 
family, and not the subject of any foreign country. 

FIVE-YEAR NOTICE, SEVEN-YEAR NOTICE, AND EIGHT-YEAR NOTICE. 

Registers and receivers will notify homestead claimants, on the expi- 
ration of the five-year period, the seven-year period, and the eight-year 
period, according to Forms 4-343 and 4-344 (p. 286), modified when 
necessary. The eight-year notice is to be given in all entries made 
prior to or on July 26, 1894, while the seven-year notice is to be given 
on entries made after that date. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 
HOMESTEAD FEES AND COMMISSIONS. 



35 



The land office fees and commissions payable when application is 
made are as follows : 



In Alabama, Arkansas, Florida. Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, 
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and 
Wisconsin (Rev. Stat., 2238; Appendix No. 1, p. 144) : 

For 160 acres 

For 80 acres 

For 40 acres 

In Arizona, California. Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, 
Utah, Washington, and Wvoming (Rev. Stat., 2238, par. 12; Appendix No. 1, 
pp. 144-145) : 

For 160 acres 

For 80 acres 

For 40 acres 



Land at 

$2.50 per 

acre. 



$18. 00 
9.00 
7.00 



22.00 

11.00 

8.00 



Land at 

$1.25 per 

acre. 



$14.00 
7.00 
6.00 



3.00 
3.00 
3.50 



The land office fees and commissions payable at the time of making 
filial proof are as follows : 



Land at 

$2.50 per 

acre. 



Land at 

$1.25 per 

acre. 



In Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota. 
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and | 
Wisconsin (Rev. Stat., 2238 ; Appendix No. 1, p. 144) : 

For 160 acres ; 

For 80 acres 

For 40 acres 

Ln Arizona, California. Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon 
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming (Rev. Stat., 2238, par. 12,- Appendix JS'o. 1 
pp. 144-145) : 

For 160 acres 

For 80 acres 

For 40 acres 



$8.00 
4.00 
2.00 



12.00 
6.00 
3.00 



$4.00 
2.00 
1.00 



6.00 
3.00 
1.50 



NECESSARY TIMBER ON PUBLIC LANDS. 

Homestead or preemption claimants who have made bona fide settle- 
ments upon public land, and who are living upon, cultivating, and 
improving the same in accordance with law and the rules and regula- 
tions of this Department with the intention of acquiring title thereto, 
are permitted to cut and remove, or cause to be cut and removed, irom 
the portion thereof to be cleared for cultivation, so much timber as is 
actually necessary for that purpose or for buildings, fences, and other 
improvements on the land entered. 

In clearing for cultivation, should there be a surplus of timber over 
what is needed for the purposes above specified the entryman may sell 
or dispose of such surplus; but it is not allowable to denude the land 
of its timber for the purpose of sale or speculation before the title has 
been conveyed to him by patent. 

The abandonment of a settlement claim after the timber has been 
removed is presumptive evidence that the claim was made for the pri- 
mary purpose of obtaining timber. 

Squatters upon public lands have no right to cut timber therefrom 
for any purpose. 

In reference to timber on the public lands in the States of Colorado, 
Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and 



36 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Nevada, the district of Alaska, and the Territories of Arizona and 
New Mexico, see rules and regulations governing the use of timber on 
the public domain, issued under section 8, act of March 3, 1891, page 
109, and under section 11, act of May 14, 1898, in reference to Alaska, 
page 126. 

TIMBER CULTURE. 

By the first section of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1095; 
Appendix No. 44, p. 221), the laws providing for the entry of public 
lands for timber- culture purposes are repealed so far as regards future 
entries, but continued, with certain prescribed modifications, as regards 
the adjustment of existing claims initiated prior to such repealing act. 
Hence, no further entries of this class will be allowed unless the right 
to make such entry had accrued or was accruing at the date of said 
act. In dealing with existing claims the provisions of the first section 
of the repealing act will be observed, presenting the following modifi- 
cations, viz: 

1. The following words of the last clause of section 2 of the act of 
June 14, 1878 (20 Stat. L., 113; Appendix No. 8, p. 167), namely, " That 
not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were planted on each acre." 
are repealed. 

2. In computing the period of cultivation, the time shall run from the 
date of the entry if the necessary acts of cultivation were performed 
within the proper time. 

3. The preparation of the land and the planting of trees shall be con- 
strued as acts of cultivation, and the time authorized to be so employed 
and actually employed shall be computed as a part of the eight years 
of cultivation required by statute. 

4. It will be seen that by the fifth proviso of that section the right 
is extended to persons having certain qualifications to commute their 
entries in certain cases at the rate of $1.25 per acre. For this purpose 
it will be necessary — 

First. That the person shall have in good faith complied with the 
provisions of the timber-culture laws for four years immediately preced- 
ing his offer of proof. 

Second. That he shall be an actual, bona fide resident of the State 
or Territory in which said land is located. 

Final proof for the commutation of timber- culture entries under this 
provision shall be made as other final timber-culture proof is made (see 
Forms 4-073a, 4-385, and 4-386, pp. 289, 286 and 288), and shall satisfac- 
torily exhibit the facts necessary to entitle the applicant to make pur- 
chase thereunder. For final proof in timber-culture entries, the registers 
and receivers shall be allowed the same fees and compensation as are 
allowed under previously existing laws in homestead entries. (See 
tenth and twelfth subdivisions sec. 2238, Rev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, 
p. 144, and act of March 3, 1877, 19 Stat. L., 403; Appendix No. 5, 
p. 165). 

5. All bona fide claims lawfully initiated before the passage of said 
act of March 3, 1891, may be perfected upon due compliance with law, 
in the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and subject 
to the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if said act had not 
been passed. 

Congress, by act of March 3, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 593), entitled "An act 
making appropriation for sundry civil expenses of the Government for 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 37 

the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, 
and for other purposes," enacted as follows, viz: 

That section one of an act entitled u An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for 
other purposes/' approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, be, and 
hereby is, amended by adding the following words to the fourth proviso thereof: 
And provided further, That if trees, seeds, or cuttings were in good faith planted as 
provided by law, and the same and the land upon which so planted were thereafter 
in good faith cultivated as provided by law for at least eight years by a person quali- 
fied to make entry and who has a subsisting entry under the limber-culture laws, 
final proof may be made without regard to the number of trees that may have been 
then growing on the land. 

Under this enactment parties may make final proof without showing 
the existence of the quantity and character of trees on the land at the 
time of their doing so, as required under the previously existing law, 
provided that it be made to appear in the proof — 

1. That trees, seeds, or cuttings were in good faith planted according 
to the requirements of the timber-culture laws as amended by the first 
section of the act of March 3, 1891, before mentioned. 

2. That the trees, seeds, or cuttings so planted and the land upon 
which they were so planted were in good faith cultivated for at least 
eight years in manner prescribed in the timber-culture laws. 

3. That the claimant was qualified to make entry under said laws. 

4. That he has an entry subsisting thereunder. 

5. That the facts of the case are such as to show the claimant's good 
faith in his proceedings under the statutes. 

Five acres on a quarter section must be broken or plowed the first 
year after entry and 5 acres the second year. The second year the first 
5 acres must be cultivated to crop or otherwise. The third year the 
second 5 acres must be cultivated to crop or otherwise, and the first 5 
acres must be planted in timber, seeds, or cuttings. The fourth year 
the second 5 acres must be planted in timber, seeds, or cuttings. Ten 
acres are thus to be plowed, planted, and cultivated on a quarter sec- 
tion, and the same proportion when less than a quarter section is entered. 
The whole 10 acres or the due proportion thereof must be prepared and 
planted within four years from the date of the entry, 5 acres being pre- 
pared the first and second years and planted the third year, and 5 acres 
being prepared the second and third years and planted the fourth year. 

The preparation of the ground by breaking and cultivation to crops 
must be thorough. The plowing must be done at the proper season of 
the year and must be sufficiently deep to thoroughly break and mix the 
soil, and the cultivation to crop must be actual and bona fide. The 
object of the law is to promote the cultivation of timber, and land not 
made fit, by careful and thorough preparation, to produce a growth of 
trees is not prepared as contemplated by law, and a failure to strictly 
comply with the law renders the entry liable to contest. 

Trees, tree seeds, or cuttings must be of suitable character to germi- 
nate and grow with proper cultivation, and must be carefully and 
properly set out or planted, and at a proper season of the year to insure 
growth, and must be carefully and thoroughly cultivated. 

Where land is selected for timber-culture entry which in its natural 
state will not produce trees without irrigation, the ground will not be 
regarded as properly prepared nor the trees as properly cultivated 
unless the land is irrigated and the trees kept watered. 

Where the ground is properly prepared and cultivated, and the plant- 
ing of suitable trees, seeds, or cuttings is well and seasonably done, 
and the same should not germinate and grow, the ground must be 



38 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

replanted and vacancies filled the same or next succeeding season. If 
the trees, seeds, or cuttings are destroyed by grasshoppers or by extreme 
and unusual droughts, the time of planting may be extended one year 
for every year of such destruction, upon the filing in the local office of 
an affidavit by the entryman, corroborated by two witnesses, setting 
forth the destruction and asking the extension of time provided for by 
the act. 

The offering of relinquishments for sale after entry will be regarded 
and treated as evidence tending to prove the fraudulent or speculative 
character of the entry. 

The following classes of trees are recognized as " timber" within the 
meaning of the law, viz: Ash (including mountain ash, or service tree), 
alder, basswood, beech, birch, box elder, black walnut, butternut (other- 
wise called white walnut), cedar, chestnut, cottonwood, elm, fir, hickory, 
honey locust, larch, maple, oak, pine, spruce, sycamore (otherwise called 
buttonwood or cotton tree), white willow, whitewood (or tulip tree), and 
other trees recognized in the neighborhood as of value for timber, for 
firewood or domestic use, or for commercial purposes. Fruit trees, 
hedges, and shrubbery can not be classed as " timber," and their culti- 
vation is not sufficient to satisfy the demands of the law. 

Final proof can not be made until the expiration of eight years from 
date of entry, and may be at any time within five years thereafter if 
cultivation has been made for the proper period. 

Perfect good faith must be shown by claimants. If trees, seeds, or 
cuttings are destroyed they must be replanted ; and not only must trees 
be planted, but they must be protected and cultivated in such manner 
as to promote their growth. 

Hereafter parties desiring to offer final proof in timber-culture cases 
will be required to file a notice of their intention with the register of 
the proper district land office, and the same shall be published in the 
same manner as in homestead and preemption cases. 

In making final proof the claimant (or, if he be dead, his heirs or 
legal representatives) must appear in person with at least two witnesses 
at the land office of the district in which the land is situated and there 
make the necessary proofs 5 or the affidavit of the party may be made 
and his testimony and the testimony of his witnesses given before any 
commissioner of the United States district court having jurisdiction 
over the county or parish in which the land is situated, under act of 
May 28, 1896 (29 Stat., 184; Appendix No. 70, p. 242), or before the 
judge or clerk of any court of record of such county or parish, or in the 
Territories the proof may be taken by a United States court commis- 
sioner as provided by act of March 2, 1895 (see Appendix No. 64, p. 239), 
but all the proof must be taken at the same time and place, before the 
same officer, in such laud district (11 L. D., 361). 

The officer administering the oath or taking the testimony must cer- 
tify to the identity and credibility of the party appearing before him. 

The foregoing requirements are modified by the act of March 4, 1896 
(29 Stat., 43, Appendix No. 68, p. 242), under which the personal testi- 
mony of the claimant in final proof in timber-culture entries may be 
taken by a United States commissioner or a clerk of any court of record, 
wherever the claimant may happen to be, but the testimony of the wit- 
nesses must be taken in the same manner and under the same restric- 
tions provided by previous laws. (Circular March 25, 1896, 22 L. D.,350.) 

The proof must set forth specially and in detail all the facts of the 
case, showing when cultivation was commenced, the acts performed, 
amount of land plowed, cultivated, and planted, what was done in each 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 39 

year, the total number of trees planted, the total number growing, and 
their size and condition at date of proof, and any other facts or circum- 
stances material to the case (Forms 4-385 and 4-386, pp. 286 and 288). 
While the law does not prescribe that any definite number of trees, 
seeds, or cuttings shall be planted, or that any particular number shall 
be growing at date of final proof, this information should be furnished 
to enable this office to judge of the claimant's good faith. 

Contests may be instituted against timber-culture entries for failure 
to comply with the law after entry, or for any sufficient cause affecting 
the legality or validity of the entry or proof. 

Contestants of timber-culture entries are not now required to file an 
application to enter the land at the time of the initiation of contest, but 
the successful contestant secures a preference right of entry under the 
second section of the act of May 14, 1880, 21 Stat. L., 140. (This regu- 
lation overrules the decision in Bundy v. Livingstone, 1 L. D., rev. 
ed., 152.) 

No land acquired under the provisions of the act of June 14, 1878, 
will in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts 
contracted prior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor. 

Claimants and witnesses making final proof must in all cases state 
their place of actual residence, their business or occupation, and their 
post office address* It is not sufficient to name the county and State 
or Territory where a party lives, Out the town or city must be named, 
and if residence is in a city the street or number must be given. 

Nothing herein will be construed to have a retroactive effect in cases 
where the official regulations of this Department in force at the date 
of entry were complied with. 

DESERT LANDS. 

The act of March 3, 1877, entitled "An act to provide for the sale of 
desert lands in certain States and Territories" (19 Stat. L., 377; 
Appendix, No. 4, p. 164), contained three sections. By the act of March 
3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1095; Appendix, No. 44, p. 221), five sections were 
added thereto, numbered from 4 to 8. The first section provides for the 
reclamation of such lands by "conducting water upon the same." The 
second section provides "that all lands, exclusive of timber lands and 
mineral lands, which will not, without artificial irrigation, produce some 
agricultural crop shall be deemed desert lands within the meaning of 
this act," and the third section provides that "this act shall only apply 
to and take effect in the States of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and 
the Territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, New 
Mexico, Wyoming, and Dakota, and the determination of what may be 
considered desert land shall be subject to the decision and regulation 
of the Commissioner of the General Land Office." 

It is therefore prescribed as follows: 

First. Lands bordering upon streams, lakes, or other natural bodies 
of water, or through or upon which there is any river, stream, arroyo, 
lake, pond, body of water, or living spring, are not subject to entry 
under the desert-land law until the clearest proof of their desert char- 
acter is furnished. 

Second. Lands which produce native grasses sufficient in quantity, 
if unfed by grazing animals, to make an ordinary crop of hay in usual 
seasons are not desert lands. 

Third. Lands which will produce an agricultural crop of any kind in 
amount to make the cultivation reasonably remunerative are not desert. 



40 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Fourth. Lands containing sufficient moisture to produce a natural 
growth of trees are not to be classed as desert lands. 

By the fourth section the party making entry is required at the time 
of filing the declaration to file also a map of the land, which shall 
exhibit a plan showing the mode of contemplated irrigation, and which 
plan shall be sufficient to thoroughly irrigate and reclaim said land and 
prepare it to raise ordinary agricultural crops, and shall also show the 
source of the water to be used for irrigation and reclamation. Provi- 
sion is made that persons may associate together in the construction 
of canals and ditches for irrigating and reclaiming tracts entered or 
proposed to be entered by them, and that they may file a joint map or 
maps showing their plan of internal improvements. 

By the fifth section it is required that the entryman shall expend, for 
the purpose of the statute, at least $3 per acre — $1 per acre during 
each year for three years — and shall file proof thereof during each year, 
such proof to consist of his affidavit, corroborated by the affidavits of 
two or more witnesses, showing that the full sum of $1 per acre has 
been expended during such year and the manner in which expended 
(Forms 4-074b and 4-074c, pp. 296-297), and at the expiration of the 
third year a map or plan showing the character and extent of improve- 
ments; that failure to file the required proof during any year shall cause 
the land to revert to the United States, the money paid to be forfeited, 
and the entry to be canceled ; audit is provided that the party may make 
his final entry and receive his patent at any time prior to the expiration 
of the three years on making the required proof of reclamation, of ex- 
penditure to the aggregate amount of $3 per acre, and of the cultivation 
of one-eighth of the land. 

The sixth section provides that entries made prior to the date of 
the amendatory act of March 3, 1891, may be perfected according to the 
provisions of the act of March 3, 1877, as originally enacted, or, at 
the option of the claimant, may be perfected under the law as amended, 
so far as applicable, and repeals all acts or parts of acts in conflict with 
the act as amended. 

The seventh section provides that at any time after filing the decla- 
ration, and within the period of four years thereafter, upon making sat- 
isfactory proof of the reclamation and cultivation of the land according 
to the legal requirements, and that he or she is a citizen of the United 
States, and upon payment in full therefor, a patent shall issue for the 
land to the applicant or his assigns. It limits the amount of land that 
may be held by any person or association of persons by assignment or 
otherwise, prior to the issue of patent, to 320 acres as the maximum; 
providing, however, that this section shall not apply to entries made 
prior. Provision is made therein for contests on sufficient grounds, and 
that on proof thereof the entry shall be canceled and the lands and 
money paid thereior forfeited to the United States. 

By the eighth section the provisions of the original act and the amend- 
ments are extended to Colorado. 

By the same section the right to make desert-land entry is restricted 
to resident citizens of the State or Territory in which the land sought 
is located, whose citizenship and residence must be duly shown. (Forms 
4_274, 4-372a, and 4-373a, pp. 291, 294 and 297.) 

By the first section of the act of July 26, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 123), it is 
provided that the time for making final proof and payment for all lands 
located under the homestead and desert-land laws of the United States, 
proof and payment of which have not yet been made, be, and the same 
is hereby, extended for the period of one year from, the time proof and 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 41 

payment would become due under existing laws (24 L. D. 3 435), and by 
act of August 4, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 226), it is enacted— 

That in all cases where declarations of intention to enter desert lands have heen 
filed, and the four years' limit within which final proof may he made had not expired 
prior to January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, the time within which such 
proof may be made in each such cast is hereby extended to five years from the date 
of tiling the declaration ; and the requirement that the persons filing such declara- 
tions shall expend the full sum oi one dollar per acre during each year toward the 
reclamation of the land is hereby suspended for the year eighteen hundred and 
ninety-four, and such annual expenditure for that year, and the proof thereof, is 
hereby dispensed with : Provided, That within the period of five years from filing 
the declaration satisfactory proof be made to the register and receiver of the recla- 
mation and cultivation of such land to the extent and cost and in the manner pro- 
vided by existing law, except as to said year eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and 
upon the payment to the receiver of the additional sum of one dollar per acre, as 
provided in existing law, a patent shall issue as therein provided. 

Under these acts final proof on all entries made prior to August 4, 
1894, may be made at any time witliin five years from date of entry. 

1. The amount of land which might be entered by any one person 
under the desert-land law was fixed by the act of March 3, 1877, at the 
maximum of one section, or 640 acres. Under the act ot August 30, 
1890 (26 Stat. L., 391), no person could be permitted to enter thereafter 
more than 320 acres in the aggregate under all the land laws, which is 
construed by the seventeenth section of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 
Stat. L., 1095; Appendix, No. 44, p. 221), not to include the amount of 
mineral lands entered in the prescribed maximum. Parties initiating 
claims are required to make affidavit to show observance of such inhi- 
bition. (See Form 4-102b, p. 272.) Under the amendatory act of March 
3, 1891, above, no person is entitled to hold under assignment or other- 
wise, prior to the patent, more than 320 acres entered as desert land, 
but this will not affect entries made prior to the approval of the amenda- 
tory act. 

Assignees must properly prove their assignments by filing in the local 
office an affidavit and a certified copy of the instrument under which 
they claim, and must make affidavit of the amount of land held. (Form 
4-074a, p,296.) 

2. Under the act of March 3, 1877, it was held that desert-land entries 
were not assignable, and that the transfer of such entries, whether by 
deed, contract, or agreement, vitiated the entry. This is changed by 
the seventh section of the act of March 3, 1877, as amended by the act 
of March 3, 1891, above, which recognizes assignments after entry and 
before patent; but an entry made in the interest or for the benefit of 
any other person, firm, or corporation, or with intent that the title shall 
be conveyed to any other person, firm, or corporation, is illegal. 

3. It has been held that the price of lands sought to be entered under 
the provisions of the act of March 3, 1877, was controlled and fixed by 
the provisions of section 2357 of the Revised Statutes, but it is now 
held that the price of lands sought to be entered under the provisions 
of said act of 1877 as amended by section 2 of the act of March 3, 1891, 
is to be $1.25 per acre, without regard to the situation of such land in 
relation to railroad grants. (14 L. D., 74.) 

4. A party desiring to avail himself of the privileges of the desert- 
laud act must file with the register and receiver of the proper district 
laud office a declaration, under oath, showing that the applicant is a 
citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention to become 
such, and a resident of the State or Territory in which the land sought 
is located. It must also be set up that the applicant has not previously 
exercised the right of entry under the provisions of this act, and that 



42 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

he intends to reclaim the tract of land applied for by conducting water 
thereon within four years from date of his declaration. The declara- 
tion must also contain a description of the land applied for, by legal 
subdivision if surveyed, or, if unsurveyed, as nearly as possible without 
a survey, by giving, with as much clearness and precision as possible, 
the locality of the tract with reference to the already established lines 
of survey, or to known and conspicuous landmarks, so as to admit 
of its being readily identified when the lines of survey come to be 
extended. 

5. Attention is called to the terms of this declaration (Form 4-274, p. 
291), which are such as require a personal knowledge by the entrymen 
of lands intended to be entered. The required affidavit can not be 
made by an agent nor upon information and belief, and the register and 
receiver must reject all applications in which it does not appear that the 
entryman made the averments contained in the sworn declaration upon 
his own knowledge derived from a personal examination of the lands. 
The blanks in the declaration must be filled in with a full statement of 
the facts of his acquaintance with the land and how he knows its char- 
acter as alleged. Said declaration must be corroborated by the affida- 
vits of two reputable witnesses who are acquainted with the land and 
with the applicant, and who must clearly state their acquaintance with 
the premises, and the facts as to the condition and situation of the land 
upon which they base their judgment (Form 4-074, p. 293). 

6. Applicants and witnesses must in all cases state their places of 
actual residence, their business or occupations, and their post-office 
addresses. It is not sufficient to name the county and State or Terri- 
tory where a party lives, but the town or city must be named, and if a 
residence is in a city the street and number must be given. The regis- 
ter and receiver will note the post-office address on their tract books. 

7. The declaration and corroborating affidavits may be made before 
the register or receiver of the land district or before any commissioner 
of the United States district court having jurisdiction over the county 
or parish in which the land is situated, under act of May 28, 1896 (29 
Stat., 184, Appendix No. 70, p. 242), or before the judge or clerk of 
any court of record of such county or parish; and if the lands are in an 
unorganized county, then the affidavits may be made in an adjacent 
county. In the Territories the proof may be made before a United 
States court commissioner, as provided by act of March 2, 1895 (see 
Appendix No. 64, p. 239). (Act of May 26, 1890, 26 Stat. L., 121 ; Appen- 
dix No. 38, p. 213; circular June 25, 1890, 10 L. D., p. 687; and Secre- 
tary's decision of October 2, 1890, case of Edward Bowker, 11 L. D., 
361.) The depositions of applicant and witnesses in making final or 
yearly proof must be taken in the same manner. The affidavits of 
applicant and witnesses must in every instance, either of original or 
yearly or final proof, be made at the same time and place and before 
the same officer. 

8. When proof of the character of the land has been made as above 
required to the satisfaction of the district officers, the applicant will 
pay the receiver the sum of 25 cents per acre for the land applied for, 
the register will receive and file his declaration, and the register and 
receiver will jointly issue, in duplicate, a certificate (Form 4-199, p. 294), 
acknowledging the receipt of the money paid and showing the filing of 
the declaration, one of which will be delivered to the applicant, and the 
other filed by the register and receiver with the declaration and proof. 
These certificates will be numbered in the order issued, and the register 
will keep a record thereof showing the number, date, amount paid, 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 43 

name of applicant, and description of the land applied for, in each case 
of original entry, and in addition he will note the same upon his plats 
and records as in cases of ordinary entries. A similar record will be 
kept of the yearly proofs made and the maps or plans filed from ^ime to 
time, under the fifth section, and the yearly proofs and plans will be 
forwarded to the General Land Office by special letter. At the end of 
each month an abstract of the declarations filed and certificates issued 
under this act during the month will be transmitted, accompanied by 
the declarations, plans, and proofs tiled, and the retained copy of certifi- 
cate in each case. On final proofs and payment being made according 
to the sixth and seventh sections, a final certificate and receipt will be 
issued. In ex parte cases, the entryman's right to the land will not be 
passed upon until the submission of final proof. (See Andrew Clay- 
burg, 20 L. D., 211.) 

9. Surveys of desert land claims can not be made in advance of the 
regular progress of the public surveys. After a township has been sur- 
veyed the claim must be adjusted to the lines of the survey. Final 
proof on entries made prior to August 1, 1887, can be made without 
publication of notice to do so (9 L. D., p. 672). Publication of notice of 
intention to make final proof must be made in all cases of entries 
instituted since that time. When the land has not been surveyed the 
notice must contain a description of the land as nearly as possible with- 
out a survey, by giving, with as much clearness and precision as pos 
sible, the locality of the tract with reference to the already established 
lines of survey, or to known and conspicuous landmarks, so as to admit 
of its being readily identified. 

When final proof has been submitted on an entry upon unsurveyed 
land, if no objections exist, the register and receiver will approve the 
same and forward it to this office without collecting the purchase money 
and without issuing the final papers. When the land shall have been 
surveyed they will require the party to make proof, in the form of an 
affidavit, corroborated, showing the legal subdivisions of his claim. 
When this has been done they will correct their records to make them 
describe the land by legal subdivisions, and if the proof submitted to 
this office has been found satisfactory, and if no objection exists in 
their office, will issue final papers upon payment of the amounts due. 
(Circular of April 20, 1891, 12 L. D., 376.) 

10. Persons making desert land entries must acquire a clear right to 
the use of sufficient water for the purpose of irrigating the whole of the 
land, and of keeping it permanently irrigated. A person who makes a 
desert-land entry before he has secured a water right does so at his 
own risk ; and as one entry exhausts his right of entry, such right can 
not be restored or again exercised because of failure to obtain water to 
irrigate the land selected by him. 

11. The source and volume of the water supply, how acquired and 
how maintained, the carrying capacity of the ditches, and the number 
and length of all ditches on each legal subdivision of the land must be 
specifically shown. Applicant and witnesses must each state in full 
what has been done in the matter of reclamation and improvement, and 
by whom, and must each answer fully and of their own personal knowl- 
edge the questions propounded in the final proof depositions. They 
must state specifically whether they at any time saw the land effect- 
ually irrigated, for without knowledge thus derived the fact of recla- 
mation remains a matter of conjecture. (Case of Charles H. Schick, 
5 L. D., 151.) 

12. The whole tract and each legal subdivision if surveyed for which 



44 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

proof is offered must be actually irrigated. If there are some high 
points or uneven surfaces which are practically not susceptible of irri- 
gation, the nature, extent, and area of such spots must be fully stated. 
In this connection the right to the water used, the quantity of it, the 
manner of its distribution, and the permanence of the supply are all 
to be taken iuto consideration. (Case of George Kamsey, 5 L. D., 120.) 

13. Before final proof shall hereafter be submitted by any person 
claiming to enter lands under the desert land act, such person will be 
required to file a notice of intention to make such proof, which shall be 
published in the same manner as required in homestead and preemption 
cases. 

14. Contests maybe instituted against desert-land entries for illegal 
ity or fraud in the inception of the entry, or for failure to comply with 
the law after entry, or for any sufficient cause affecting the legality or 
validity of the claim. Contestants will be allowed a preference right 
of entry for thirty days after notice of the cancellation of the contested 
entry in the same manner as in homestead and preemption cases, and 
the register will give the same notice and be entitled to the same fee 
for notice as in other cases. 

15. When relinquishments of desert-land entries are filed in the local 
land office, the entries will be canceled by the register and receiver in 
the same manner as in homestead, preemption, and timber-culture cases, 
under the first section of the act of May 14, 1880. (21 Stat. L., 140; 
Appendix No. 15, p. 174.) 

16. Nothing herein will be construed to have a retroactive effect in 
cases where the official regulations of this Department in force at the 
date of entry were complied with. Parties whose entries were made 
under the laws and regulations which prevailed prior to the passage of 
the act of March 3, 1891, will not be injuriously affected in their rights 
by any provisions of the last-mentioned act. But where a party elects 
to perfect an entry made prior to the date of the act under the provisions 
of the amended act, due compliance with the amended act must be shown. 
He must show an expenditure of not less than $3 per acre in the manner 
provided by said act, and that one-eighth of the land has been cultivated. 

Assignment may also be made of an entry made prior to March 3, 
1891, to the extent of the whole amount of land entered irrespective of 
the restriction prescribed in the seventh section, limiting the amount 
to be held by assignment or otherwise to 320 acres, but no assignee of 
such entry to acquire more than 640 acres (see case of David B. Dole, 
3 L. D., 214). But assignees of entries made prior to said act must 
perfect the entry under the provisions of the act of March 3, 1891. 

NOTICE TO DELINQUENT CLAIMANTS. 

In a number of cases persons who have initiated claims to public 
lands under the desert-land act of March 3, 1877, have allowed the lim- 
itation provided by the statute to expire without making the final 
proof of reclamation of the land and the final payment as required by 
that act; therefore, in all such cases which now exist or which may 
hereafter exist, the registers and receivers will notify the parties of 
their noncompliance with the law, and that ninety days from date of 
service of notice will be allowed to each of them within which to show 
cause why their claims should not be declared forfeited and their entries 
canceled. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 45 

TIMBER AND STONE LANDS. 

The act of June 3, 1878 (20 Stat. L., 89 ; Appendix No. 6, p. 165), 
provides for the sale of timber lands in the States of California, Ore- 
gon, Nevada, and Washington, and the act of August 4, 1892, section 2 
(27 Stat. L., 348; Appendix No. 51, p. 231), extends the provisions of 
the former act to all the public-land States. 

1. The quantity of land which may lawfully be acquired under said 
acts by any one person or association is limited to not exceeding 160 
acres, which must be in one body. (See case of Daniel J. Heyfran, 
19 L. D., 512.) 

2. The land must be valuable chiefly for timber (or stone) and unlit 
for cultivation if the timber were removed. 

3. It must be unreserved, unappropriated, and uninhabited, and 
without improvements (except for ditch or canal purposes) save such as 
were made by or belong to the applicant. 

4. Lands containing valuable deposits o± gold, silver, cinnabar, cop- 
per, or coal are not subject to entry under this act. 

5. One entry or tiling onty can be allowed any person or association 
of persons. A married woman may be permitted to purchase under 
said act, provided the laws of the State or Territory in which the entry 
is made permit a married woman to purchase and hold real estate as a 
feme sole; but in addition to the proofs already provided for she shall 
make affidavit at the time of entry that she purposes to purchase said 
land with her separate money, in which her husband has no interest or 
claim ; that said entry is made for her sole and separate use and ben- 
efit; that she has made no contract or agreement whereby any interest 
whatever therein will inure to the benefit of her husband or any other 
person, and that she has never made an entry under said act, or 
derived or had any interest whatever, directly or indirectly, in or from 
a former entry made by any person or association of persons. 

6. A person applying to purchase a tract under the provisions of this 
act is required to make affidavit before the register or receiver that he 
has made no prior application under this act; that he is by birth or 
naturalization a citizen of the United States, or has declared his inten- 
tion to become a citizen. If native born, parol evidence to that fact 
will be sufficient; if not native born, record evidence of the prescribed 
qualification must be furnished. The affidavit must designate by legal 
subdivisions the tract which the applicant desires to purchase, setting 
forth its character as above; stating that the same is unfit for cultiva- 
tion, and valuable chiefly for its timber or stone; that it is uninhabited ; 
contains no mining or other improvements, except for ditch or canal 
purposes (if any exist), save such as were made by or belong to the 
applicant, nor, as deponent verily believes, any valuable deposit of gold, 
silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; that deponent does not apply to pur- 
chase the same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his 
own exclusive use and benefit; and that he has not, directly or indi- 
rectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with 
any person or persons whomsoever, by which the title he may acquire 
from the Government of the United States shall inure in whole or in 
part to the benefit of any person except himself. 

7. Every person swearing falsely to any such affidavit is guilty of 
perjury, and will be punished as provided by law for such offense. In 
addition thereto, the money that may be paid for the land is forfeited, 
and all conveyances of the land, or of any right, title, or claim thereto, 
are absolutely null and void as against the United States 



46 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

8. The sworn statement before the register and receiver required as 
above (section 2 of the act) must be made upon the personal knowledge 
of applicant, except in the particulars in which the statute provides 
that the affidavit may be made upon information and belief. 

9. The register or receiver will in every case read this affidavit to 
applicant, or cause it to be read to him in their presence, before he is 
sworn or his signature is attached thereto. 

10. The published notici required by the third section of the act must 
state the time and place when, and name the officer before whom, the 
party intends to offer proof, which must be after the expiration of the 
sixty days of publication (circular of September 5, 1889, 9 L. D., 384), 
and must also contain the names of the witnesses who are to testify. 
(See case of Sarah L. Bigelow, 20 L. D., 6.) 

11. The evidence to be furnished to the satisfaction of the register 
and receiver at time of entry, as required by the third section of the 
act, must be taken before the register or receiver, and will consist of 
the testimony of claimant, corroborated by the testimony of two disin- 
terested witnesses. The testimony will be reduced to writing by the 
register or receiver upon the blanks provided for the purpose, after 
verbally propounding the questions set forth in the printed forms. The 
accuracy of affiant's information and the bona fides of the entry must 
be tested by close and sufficient oral examination. The register and 
receiver will especially direct such examination to ascertain whether 
the entry is made in good faith for the appropriation of the land to the 
entryman's own use, and not for sale or speculation, and whether he has 
conveyed the land or his right thereto, or agreed to make any such 
conveyance, or whether he has directly or indirectly entered into any 
contract or agreement in any manner with any person or persons whom- 
soevei by which the title that may be acquired by the entry shall inure, 
in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person or persons except him- 
self. They will certify to the fact of such oral examination, its suffi- 
ciency, and their satisfaction therewith. 

12. Attention is called to the instructions of this office of August 19, 
1884, addressed to the register and receiver at Humboldt, Oal. (3 L. D., 
84), in respect to scrutiny of applications and entries, the examination 
of parties and witnesses, and the duty of the local officers in accepting, 
rejecting, and reporting such applications and entries; and all registers 
and receivers will strictly follow and be governed by said instructions. 

13. The entire proof must be taken at one and the same time, and 
payment must be made at the time of offering proof. Proofs will in no 
case be accepted in the absence of a tender of the money; and the 
register's certificate will in no case be given to the party or his attor- 
ney, but must be handed directly to the receiver by the register; and 
no note will be made upon the plats or tract books until the receiver's 
receipt has been issued. The proof, certificate, and receipt must in all 
cases bear even date. 

14. When an adverse claim, or any protest against accepting proof 
or allowing an entry, is filed before final certificate has been issued, the 
register and receiver will at once order a hearing, and will allow no 
entry until after their written determination upon such hearing has 
been rendered. They will report their final action in all protest and 
contest cases, and transmit the papers to this office. 

15. After certificate has been issued, contest, applications, and pro- 
tests will be submitted to this office, as in other cases of contest after 
final entry. 

16. Contests may be brought against timber and stone land applica 
tions or entries, in accordance with rule 1 of Rules of Practice, either 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 47 

by an adverse claimant or by any other person, and for any sufficient 
cause affecting the legality or validity of the filing, entry, or claim. 

17. In case of an association of persons making application for an 
entry under this act, each of the persons must prove the requisite qual- 
ifications, and their names must appear in the sworn statement, as in 
case of an individual person. They must also unite in the regular ap- 
plication for entry, which will be made in their joint names as in other 
cases of joint cash entry. The forms prescribed for cases of applica- 
tions by individual persons may be adapted for use in applications of 
this class, and the sworn statement as to the character of the land may 
be made by one member of the association upon his personal knowledge. 

18. No person who has made an individual entry or application can 
thereafter make one as a member of an association, nor can any mem- 
ber of au association making an entry or application be allowed there- 
after to make an individual entry or application. 

19. Applicants to make timber-land entries, and claimants and wit- 
nesses making final proof, must in all cases state their places of actual 
residence, their business or occupation, and their post-office address. It 
is not sufficient to name the county and State or Territory where a party 
lives, but the town or city must be named ; and if residence is in a city, 
the street or number must be given. 

DISPOSAL OF INDIAN LANDS UNDER SPECIAL STATUTES. 
OSAGE INDIAN TRUST AND DIMINISHED-RESERVE LANDS. 

The Osage Indian trust and diminished-reserve lands are subject to 
sale according to the general principles of the preemption laws, and 
the special provisions of the act of May 28, 1880 (21 Stat. L., 143; 
Appendix No. 16, p. 174). See also tenth section act of March 3, 1891 
(26 Stat, L., p. 1095; Appendix No. 44, p. 221). 

Claimants are required to file a declaratory statement within three 
months from date of settlement and to make proof and payment within 
six months from date of filing. 

This proof must be made, after notice by publication, before the offi- 
cers authorized to take proof in preemption cases and must show that 
the claimant is a qualified preemptor and an actual settler on the land 
at the date of application to enter. Six months' continuous residence 
next preceding date of proof is not an essential requirement, but it is 
essential that the settlement be shown to be actual and bona fide. 

Payment for these lands must be made in cash at the rate of $1.25 
per acre, and may be made by installments, one-fourth the purchase 
price when proof is made, the remainder in three equal annual install- 
ments, with interest on the deferred payments at the rate of 5 per cent 
per annum. 

Section 3 of the act of May 28, 1880, provides that when default in 
payment of any installment of the purchase money, when it becomes 
due, continues, the land may be offered at public sale, after advertise- 
ment, unless before the date fixed for the offering payment of the whole 
purchase price is completed. Any land so offered and remaining unsold 
to be thereafter subject to sale at private entry as prescribed in said 
section 3. 

After payment of the first installment of purchase money has been 
made the lands are subject to taxation according to the laws of the 
State of Kansas. 

Payment of the remaining installments must be made by the entry- 
man or in his behalf, and patents can be issued to entrymen only. 



48 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

By filing Osage declaratory statements in accordance with the act of 
May 28, 1880, the right of preemption to such or any other lands is 
exhausted if the filings are valid and capable of being perfected into 
complete title. 

CHIPPEWA CEDED LANDS, MINNESOTA. 

The act of January 14, 1889, sections 4, 5, and 6 (25 Stat. L., 642), 
makes provision for the disposal of such lands of the Chippewa Indian 
reservations, Minnesota, as may be ceded by the Indians under said act. 
The examination of said lands is now in progress in accordance with 
the provisions of the statute, but it can not be determined at this time 
when the same will be completed. 

HOMESTEADS IN OKLAHOMA TERRITORY. 

The lands in Oklahoma Territory, at present open to homestead set- 
tlement and entry, except the " Public Land Strip,' 7 were ceded to the 
United States by the Indians, for whose occupancy the lands were 
formerly reserved. 

The acts of Congress ratifying and accepting the several cessions, 
contained provisions for the disposal of the lands, and in addition, sec- 
tions 18 to 25, inclusive, of the act of May 2, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 81; 
Appendix No. 37, p. 209), made provisions applicable to all the lands 
in the Territory. 

The statutes above referred to and the tracts to which they refer are 
as follows: Sections 12, 13, 14, and 15, act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 
1004 to 1006; Appendix No. 35, p. 204), lands ceded by the Muscogee, 
or Creek, and the Seminole Indians; section 7, act of February 13, 1891 
(26 Stat. L., 759), lands ceded by the Sac and Fox and the Iowa Indians; 
section 16, act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1026), lands ceded by the 
Absentee Shawnee, the Pottawatomie, and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe 
Indians; section 3, act of March 3, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 563; Appendix 
No. 46, p. 228), lands ceded by the Kickapoo Indians ; and sections 10 
to 14, inclusive, act of March 3, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 640 to 645), lands 
ceded by the Cherokee, the Tonkawa, and the Pawnee Indians. 

The homestead laws and regulations contained in this circular (see 
pages 11 to 36, inclusive, 83 to 94, inclusive, and 153 to 157, inclusive) 
will govern in the allowance of entries for these lands except as 
modified by the statutes mentioned in the following particulars: 

RESTRICTION AS TO OWNERSHIP OF LAND. 

No person who shall at the time be seized in fee simple of 160 acres 
of land in any State or Territory will be entitled to enter land in Okla- 
homa Territory (sec. 20, act May 2, 1890). This restriction differs from 
the general restriction of a similar character found in the act of March 
3, 1891, and therefore the preliminary homestead affidavit (Form 4-063, 
p. 275) has been amended by striking out the words "more than" 
from the clause u I am not the proprietor of more than 160 acres of 
land in any State or Territory," and this amended form must be used 
in all homestead entries in Oklahoma. 

SECOND HOMESTEAD ENTRIES. 

The rule stated on page 19 of this circular, under the title " Only 
one homestead privilege to the same person permitted," is so modified 
as to admit of a homestead entry being made by anyone who, prior to 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 49 

the passage of the act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 1004), had made a 
homestead entry, but failed from any cause to secure a title in fee to 
the land embraced therein, or who, having secured such title, did so by 
what is known as the commutation of his homestead entry prior to the 
date of said act (see sec. 2301, U. S. Kev. Stat., p. 155, and statement on 
page 21 of this circular, under the title a Commutation of homestead 
entries"). A person desiring to make another entry under this pro- 
vision will be required to make affidavit to the facts necessary to entitle 
him to do so under the laws and rules, designating in the affidavit his 
former entry by description of the land, number and date of entry, with 
the name of the land office where made, or other sufficient data to admit 
of readily identifying it on the official records, which affidavit the reg- 
ister and receiver will transmit with the other entry papers to this 
office. This provision is held to be applicable to all lands in Oklahoma 
Territory (see case of William T. Dick, 19 L. D„ 540). By the special 
provisions of the acts of February 13,1891 (26 Stat. L., 759), and March 
3, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 563), second homestead entries may be made under 
like conditions when the first entry was made, or, if commuted, when 
the title was perfected prior to February 13, 1891, as regards Sac and 
Fox and Iowa lands, and March 3, 1893, as regards Kickapoo lands. 

Parties who have perfected title to former homestead entries under 
special laws or under the provisions of section 2291, Revised Statutes, 
are not entitled to make second homestead entries under these pro- 
visions, as it is limited to parties who commuted their former entries 
under section 2301, Eevised Statutes. (See case of James M. Clark, 17 
L.D.,46.) 

With regard to persons making homestead entries and failing to 
acquire title thereunder, or commuting them, after the passage of said 
act of March 2, 1889, or as regards the Sac and Fox and Iowa and the 
Kickapoo lands after February 13, 1891, or March 3, 1893, respectively, 
the rule stated on page 19 of this circular as to second homesteads is 
operative and will be enforced in relation to these lands as well as 
others. 

soldiers' and sailors' additional entries. 

The statutes provide for the disposal of these lands except the lands 
in what was known as the "Public Land Strip," now Beaver County, "to 
actual settlers under the homestead laws only," and while providing 
that "the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and sailors in 
the late civil war, as defined and described in sections 2304 and 2305 
of the Bevised Statutes (see p. 156 of this circular), shall not be 
abridged," make no mention of sections 2306 and 2307 thereof, under 
which soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan children are per- 
mitted, with regard to the public lands generally, to make additional 
entries in certain cases, free from the requirement of actual settlement 
on the entered tract (see pp. 29 and 156 of this circular). It is there- 
fore held that soldiers' or sailors' additional entries can not be made 
on these lands under said sections 2306 and 2307 unless the party claim- 
ing will, in addition to the proof required on pages 29 and 156 of this 
circular, make affidavit that the entry is made for actual settlement and 
cultivation, according to section 2291, as modified by sections 2304 and 
2305 of the Revised Statutes, and the prescribed proof of compliance 
therewith will be required to be produced before the issue of final cer- 
tificate. This restriction, however, is not applicable to the lands in 
what was known as the u Public Land Strip," as said lands are subject 
3073 4 



50 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

to disposal under the general homestead laws (except sec. 2301, Rev. 
Stat.), including said sections 2306 and 2307, United States Revised 
Statutes. 

ILLEGAL ENTRANCE UPON THESE LANDS. 

It is provided in relation to all of the tracts so far opened to settle- 
ment in Oklahoma Territory, except the "Public Land Strip/' that any 
person entering upon and occupying any particular tract prior to the 
time said lands were opened to settlement by proclamation of the Presi- 
dent should never be permitted to enter any of said lands or acquire 
any right thereto. 

The several tracts were opened to settlement and entry at 12 o'clock 
noon (central standard time) on the dates specified below : 

The Muscogee or Creek and Seminole lands, under act of March 2, 1889. Apr. 22, 1889 

Sac and Fox lands.... Sept. 22, 1891 

Iowa lands Sept. 22, 1891 

Absentee Shawnee and Pottawatomie lands Sept. 22, 1891 

Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands , Apr. 19, 1892 

Cherokee Outlet lands Sept. 16, 1893 

Tonkawa lands Sept. 16, 1893 

Pawnee lands Sept. 16, 1893 

Kickapoo lands May 23, 1895 

Each homestead applicant will be required, first, to make affidavit, in 
addition to other requirements, that he did not violate the law by enter- 
ing upon or occupying any portion of the lands embraced in the former 
reservation which included the particular land covered by his applica- 
tion prior to the time fixed by the President's proclamation for legal 
entrance thereon. This affidavit should be of Form 4-102 (p. 276), modi- 
fied by the insertion of the appropriate dates of the proclamation, and 
opening where necessary. 

ENTRIES MUST EMBRACE CONTIGUOUS LAND. 

The provision in section 20 of the act of May 2, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 81), 
that all homestead entries for lands within said Territory shall be in 
square form as nearly as may be, has reference to the purpose and intent 
of the homestead laws generally, contemplating eu tries by quarter sec- 
tions, which are in square form, when this is practicable, but not requir- 
ing it as an absolute rule, and permitting entries to be made of different 
tracts to make up the full quantity allowed and intended to be entered. 
When this is the case it is required that the tracts shall be contiguous 
to each other, so as to form one body of land, although not in strictly 
square form, and in such cases the ruling to that effect should be applied 
as given on page 88 of this circular. 

SETTLERS ON THE "PUBLIC LAND STRIP." 

Actual settlers at the date of the act upon the lands known as the 
" Public Land Strip," now embraced in Beaver County, are allowed the 
preference right to enter the lands upon which they have settled under 
the homestead laws, but they are not permitted to receive credit for 
more than two years' residence prior to the date of the act of May 2, 
1890. (See sec. 18, p. 209.) 

COMPLETION OF TITLE. 

Title to the lands opened to settlement on April 22, 1889, and to the 
lands mentioned in the last preceding paragraph may be perfected under 
sections 2291 or 2305, United States Eevised Statutes, without the pay- 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 51 

merit of any sum except the final homestead commissions and the expense 
of making proof; but an additional payment is required for all other 
lands in said Territory hereinbefore mentioned, whether proof is made 
under section 2291 or section 2305, United States Revised Statutes, or 
under oueof the special statutes to be mentioned hereafter. Attention is 
directed to pages 14, 22 and 83 of this circular for information as to proof 
under said sections 2291 and 2305, United States Revised Statutes. 

No homestead entries for any of the lands in said Territory are sub- 
ject to commutation under the provisions of section 2301, United States 
Revised Statutes, but they may be commuted for town-site purposes 
under the special provisions of section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890. 
(See p. 51 of this circular.) 

It is provided in section 20 of the act of May 2, 1890 (20 Stat. L., 81), 
that a no patent shall be issued to any person who is not a citizen of 
the United States at the time of making final proof; n therefore, if the 
party submitting proof is foreign born, he will be required to furnish 
evidence of naturalization the same as in final proof, under sections 
2291 or 2305, United States Revised Statutes. 

The act of May 2, 1890, section 23, reserves public highways 4 rods 
wide " between each section" of land in the Territory, but provides that 
no deduction shall be made where cash payments are provided for in 
the purchase money on account of such reservation. 

In all cases where a party avails himself of the privilege of securing 
title to the tract embraced in his entry, as hereinafter mentioned, 
before he is competent to submit proof under sections 2291 or 2305, 
United States Revised Statutes, unless he commutes for town-site 
purposes, he will be required to file with his proof an affidavit that 
no part of said lands is occupied, required, or intended for town-site 
purposes. (Form 4-102c, p. 276.) 

MTJSCOOEE OR CREEK AND SEMINOLE LANDS. 

Settlers on these lands may obtain patent therefor twelve months 
from date of locating upon said homestead by showing a compliance 
with all the laws relating to such homestead settlement and paying for 
the lands so entered at the rate of $1.25 per acre (sec. 21, act May 2, 
1890), or they may, as before stated, obtain patent without additional 
payment by making proof under sections 2291 or 2305, United States 
Revised Statutes. 

SAC AND FOX AND IOWA LANDS. 

Settlers on these lands have the option of obtaining a patent therefor 
at the expiration of twelve months from the date of settlement upon 
the homestead, or they may make proof and receive patent at any time 
thereafter and before the expiration of the statutory period for making 
proof; but in either case they will be required to pay the sum of $1.25 
for each acre of the land embraced in the homestead entry in addition 
to the fees provided by law. (Sec. 7, act February 13, 1891.) 



HOE LANDS. 

The act of March 3, 1891, providing for the disposal of these lands, 
made no provision for the completion of title earlier than could be done 
under the provisions of sections 2291 and 2305, United States Revised 
Statutes, and required a payment within five years from the date of 



52 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the original entry of $1.50 per acre for the land, in addition to the fees 
provided by law, one-half of which was required to be paid within two 
years from the date of the entry. By the act of October 20, 1893 (28 
Stat. L., 3; Appendix No. 47, p. 229), Congress extended the time for 
the first payment for one year, and by the act of March 2, 1895 (28 Stat. 
L., 901 ; Appendix No. 65, p. 239), the time was further extended so that 
the first payment may be made at any time within five years from the 
date of the entry. 

In case of default in making any payment when due, the register and 
receiver will notify the entry man of that fact, and that, if the payment 
shall not be made within sixty days thereafter, steps will be taken look- 
ing to the cancellation of the entry. Upon the expiration of the time 
allowed by such notice, they will report the status of the entry to the 
General Land Office for appropriate action. 

Should any party tender the money required to be paid for said lands 
after the time it is due and before final cancellation of the entry, the 
same will be received by the register and receiver and a report thereof 
made by special letter to the General Land Office. (See Edward Uhlig, 
12 L. D., p. 111.) 

The mere fact that a party has not paid the purchase money within 
the prescribed time should not be regarded as sufficient ground upon 
which to base a contest where there is no allegation of failure to comply 
with the settlement and cultivation requirements of the law. 

The act of October 20, 1893, in addition to extending the time for the 
first payment, provided that any settler on these lands "who has com- 
plied with all the laws relating to such homestead settlement may 
receive a patent therefor at the expiration of twelve months from the 
date of locating upon such homestead upon payment to the United 
States of one dollar and fifty cents per acre for the land." 

Applications to purchase under this provision will be made upon 
Form 4-001 (p. 271). 

KICKAPOO LANDS. 

The provisions for completion of title and for payment of the first 
installment of the purchase money, both as to time and amount, are 
the same as those relative to the lands above mentioned of the Absentee 
Shawnee, Pottawatomie, and Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians, except 
as regards the extension of time within which to make the final pay- 
ment and the provision for commutation contained in the act of Octo- 
ber 20, 1893, but the right of commutation was extended to settlers 
thereon by the act of April 11, 1898 (30 Stat., 354). 

Attention is directed to the instructions given in the preceding state- 
ment as to the Absentee Shawnee, Pottawatomie, and Cheyenne and 
Arapahoe lands, which are applicable to these lands except in the two 
particulars indicated. 

CHEROKEE OUTLET, TONKAWA AND PAWNEE LANDS. 

No provision was made by the act of March 3, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 612), 
under which these lands were opened to settlement, for the commuta- 
tion of homestead entries except for town- site purposes (see p. 54 of this 
circular). Each settler on said lands is required by said statute, before 
receiving a patent for his homestead, to pay for the lands taken by him, 
in addition to the fees provided by law, the sum of $2.50 per acre for any 
land east of 97J degrees west longitude, the sum of $1.50 per acre for 
any land between 97J degrees and 98 J degrees west longitude, and the 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 53 

sum of $1 per acre for any land west of 98£ degrees west longitude, 
and also to pay interest upon the amount so to be paid for said land 
from the date of entry to the date of final payment therefor at the rate 
of 4 per cent per annum. 

By the act of August 15, 1894, section 19 (28 Stat. L., 336; Appendix 
No. 55, p. 234) the right of commutation was extended to all bona fide 
homestead settlers on these lands after fourteen months from the date 
of settlement, upon the full payment for the lands at the prices provided 
in the act of March 3, 1893 (supra). 

Applicants to commute their homestead entries under said provision 
will be required to show compliance with the homestead law for four- 
teen months from the date of settlement and to the date of proof; and 
if foreign born, to furnish evidence of naturalization, the same as in 
five-year proof, under section 20, act of May 2, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 81). 
They will be required to pay for the land, as provided in the tenth and 
thirteenth sections of the act of March 3, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 640), the 
same as though they were making five-year proof, excepting the regular 
final homestead commissions, but no additional payment for the privilege 
of commutation will be required. 

The interest required to be paid will be computed from the date of 
entry to the date of final payment, as required by statute, and where 
the proof is made outside of the land office and transmitted by mail it 
must be accompanied by a sufficient sum to meet the interest computed 
to the date when the receiver's receipt is issued. The proof and final 
affidavit in such cases will be made upon the regular homestead blanks, 
modified as the circumstances require, and in each case must be accom- 
panied by an affidavit of Form 4-102c (p. 276), properly modified. 

ADDITIONAL EXTENSION OF TIME. 

In addition to the acts of Congress extending the time for payment 
referred to in the foregoing statement regarding ceded Indian lands in 
Oklahoma, are the three following making still further extensions: 

Act of June 10, 1896 (29 Stat., 342), extending the time for one year 
additional in favor of settlers on all ceded Indian reservations. 

Act of June 7, 1897 (30 Stat., 87), making a further extension of one 
year on all ceded Indian reservations. 

Act of July 1, 1898 (30 Stat., 595), further extending the time in all 
such cases to July 1, 1900. 

PUBLIC LAND STRIP. 

Under the provisions of section 18 of the act of May 2, 1890 (26 Stat. 
L., 81), title may be perfected to these lands under the general home- 
stead laws (except sec. 2301, U. S. Rev. Stat.) without the requirement 
of any payment other than the fees required by law. The right of 
commutation withheld by said act was, by the act of October 20, 1893 
(28 Stat. L., 3; Appendix No. 47, p. 229), extended to these lands in a 
modified form, so that homestead settlers who have complied with all the 
laws relating to homestead settlement may receive a patent at the expi- 
ration of twelve months from the date of locating upon the homestead, 
by paying $1.25 per acre for the land embraced in the homestead entry. 
For information as to the mode of procedure in making proof and pay- 
ment see the remarks relative to completion of title to Absentee 
Shawnee, Pottawatomie, and Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands, under the 
same law, pages 51-52. 



54 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

COMMUTATION OF HOMESTEAD ENTRIES FOR TOWN-SITE PURPOSES. 

All applications to commute homestead entries, or portions thereof, 
to cash entries, at the rate of $10 per acre, for the purpose named in 
the twenty-second section of the act of May 2, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 81; 
Appendix No. 37, p. 209), will be made through the district land office, 
addressed to the honorable Secretary of the Interior and transmitted 
to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, in accordance with the 
following regulations : 

1. Entries under said section must be made according to the legal 
subdivision of the land, and no application for a less quantity than is 
embraced in a legal subdivision or for land involved in any contest will 
be received. 

2. An entryman desiring to commute his homestead entry, in whole 
or in part, for town-site purposes shall present his application (Form 
4-001, p. 271) at the local land office of the district in which his land is 
situated, and if his application and the status of his homestead entry 
are found to be in accord with the foregoing requirements, the register 
and receiver will permit him to make publication of notice of his inten- 
tion to submit commutation town-site proof in accordance with the law 
herein referred to. The notice of intention to make proof as above 
provided shall be the same in all respects as that required of a claim- 
ant in making final homestead proof, with the addition that it shall 
state that said proof will be made under section 22 of the act of May 
2, 1890. 

3. Proof in accordance with the published notice, consisting of the 
testimony of the claimant and two of the advertised witnesses, must 
be furnished relating — 

First. To evidence that the tract sought to be purchased is required 
for town- site purposes. 

Second. To the observance by the entryman of the provisions of the 
law and of the President's proclamation under which settlement on the 
land sought to be purchased became permissible. 

Third. To the claimant's citizenship and qualifications in all other 
respects, as a homesteader, the same as in making final homestead or 
commutation proof. 

Fourth. To due compliance with all the requirements of the home- 
stead law by the claimant up to the date of submitting proof. 

Proof of publication of notice must also be furnished as in ordinary 
cases. 

1. At the time of submitting proof, as provided in the preceding 
paragraph, the entryman shall file therewith triplicate plats of the sur- 
vey of the land applied for, duly verified by the oaths of himself and 
the surveyor. Such plats shall be made on tracing linen and on a scale 
of 100 feet to 1 inch; they shall be provided with a margin sufficient to 
contain the oaths of the entryman and the surveyor and the approval 
of the Secretary of the Interior; they must state the name of the city 
or town, describe the exterior boundaries thereof according to the lines 
of public surveys, exhibit the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alleys, 
and must specifically set forth the size of the same, with measurements 
and area of each municipal subdivision; and if the survey was made 
subsequent to May 2, 1890, the plats must also show that the provisions 
of the first proviso of the section of the act under consideration have 
been complied with, viz, the setting apart of " reservations for parks 
(of substantially equal area if more than one park) and for schools and 
other public purposes, embracing in the aggregate not less than 10 
nor more than 20 acres." 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 55 

5. It is of the utmost importance that all plats of town sites should 
be correct. The size of each lot should be stated, and if the lot is 
irregular in shape the width at each end should be indicated 5 the width 
of each street and alley should be marked, and the dimensions, together 
with the area of the reservations and parks, indicated. 

Whenever an entry is made adjacent to a town already in existence 
the streets must conform to the streets already established; and this 
must be stated in the affidavit of the surveyor. The affidavit of the 
surveyor shall also contain a statement of what tract of land is sur- 
veyed as the town site and that the tracts reserved for public purposes 
contain the requisite amount of land. 

The affidavit of the party applying to make the entry shall embrace 
the statement that the application to enter the described tract of land 
as the town site of is made under the provisions of the second pro- 
viso to section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890, entitled "An act to provide 
a temporary government for the Territory of Oklahoma," etc., that all 
streets, alleys, parks, and reservations are dedicated to public use and 
benefit, and that the plat is correct according to the survey made by the 
proper surveyor. 

6. At the time of submitting proof and filing the triplicate plats the 
claimant shall tender to the receiver the purchase price of the land 
applied for, exclusive of the portions reserved for parks, schools, and 
other public purposes (which are to be patented as a donation to the 
town when organized as a municipality, for the specific purposes for 
which they were reserved), payment to be made by draft on New York 
made payable to the order of the Secretary of the Interior, at the rate 
of $10 per acre for that portion of the laud actually entered. 

The register and receiver will thereupon transmit the proof and trip- 
licate plats to this office for examination and the approval of the Sec- 
retary of the Interior, together with the application to make entry and 
their joint report as to the status of the land applied for, and at the 
same time they will transmit to the Secretary of the Interior the draft 
tendered in payment for the land, making references m each letter to 
the other. 

7. When the proof and triplicate plats are received by this office, if 
found to be regular and in accordance with these regulations, they will 
be forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior with recommendation that 
the plats be approved. 

Should the triplicate plats be approved, and receipt of the purchase 
price of the land be acknowledged by the Secretary, one of said 
approved plats will be retained in this office and the other two will be 
returned to the district land office with directions to the register to 
issue final certificate for the land embraced in said approved plats 
(exclusive of the lands to be donated and maintained for public pur- 
poses as heretofore provided). Eeceipt of the purchase money having 
been acknowledged by the Secretary of the Interior, no final receipt 
will be issued by the receiver. One of the approved plats returned to 
the register and receiver will be retained in their office and the other 
they will deliver to the applicant to be by him filed and made of record 
in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county in which the town 
is situated. 

8. Upon the issuance of final certificate the register and receiver will 
note on their records the commutation of the applicant's homestead 
entry, in whole or in part, as the case may be. When patent is ready 
for delivery the entryman will be required to surrender his duplicate 
homestead receipt for transmittal to this office if the entire homestead 
entry is commuted, or to deliver the same to the register and receiver 



56 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

to have the commuted town-site entry noted thereon and returned to 
the entryman if the homestead entry is commuted in part only, before 
said patent Avill be delivered. 

9. The foregoing regulations will be observed in all cases in which the 
entry and claimant's application to commute for town-site purposes are 
free from protest, contest, or other adverse proceedings. But in all 
cases in which, at the time of submitting proof, or prior thereto, a pro- 
test or an affidavit of contest is filed, the register and receiver will take 
appropriate action on such protest or contest in accordance with tbe 
prevailing practice in ordinary homestead, commutation, or final-proof 
cases before transmitting the papers to this office, and siiould such 
action be adverse to the application to commute, or favorable thereto, 
and an appeal be filed by the contestant, they will not require tender 
of the purchase price of the land sought to be purchased for town-site 
purposes until they are advised of the final determination of such pro- 
test or contest proceedings by this office or the Department favorable 
to the application to purchase. When so advised they will require the 
applicant to make immediate tender of the purchase money, which they 
will transmit to the Secretary of the Interior and advise this office thereof 
as hereinbefore provided. 

Protest or contest affidavits filed in the district land office after the 
transmittal of the proof and triplicate plats to this office will not be 
considered by the register and receiver, but must be promptly trans 
mitted to this office for appropriate action. After the approval of the 
triplicate plats by the Secretary of the Interior no protest or contest 
relating thereto will be entertained by the district land office or this 
office, but should one be filed with the register and receiver it will be 
forwarded to this office, to be transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior 
for appropriate action . 

10. In all contested cases the contestant will be required to file in the 
district land office a sworn and corroborated statement of his grounds 
of action, and that the contest is not initiated for the purpose of har- 
assing the claimant and extorting money from him under a compromise, 
but in good faith to prosecute the same to a final determination, and 
if the allegations therein contained are considered sufficient to warrant 
the ordering of a hearing the same will be ordered upon compliance by 
the contestant with the condition that he shall deposit a sufficient sum 
to cover the cost thereof. 

Notice of actions or decisions in all matters affecting an entry, or an 
application to commute for town-site purposes, under the foregoing 
instructions, and the proof thereof, shall be the same as in ordinary 
cases; and any person feeling aggrieved by the judgment of the regis- 
ter and receiver in such matters may, within thirty days from notice 
thereof, appeal to this office. Within the time allowed for filing an 
appeal the appellant shall serve a copy of the same on the appellee, 
who will be allowed ten days from such service within which to file his 
brief and argument. 

Appe'als from the decisions of this office lie to the Secretary of the 
Interior the same as in other matters of like character, such appeal and 
service thereof to be filed within sixty days from notice of the decision 
of this office from which appeal is taken, in accordance with the Eules 
of Practice. 

Motions for review of the decisions of the district land office shall be 
filed and served within the time allowed for appeal, and motions for 
review of the decisions of this office and of the Secretary of the Interior 
shall be filed and served within thirty days from notice thereof. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 57 

11. The act under consideration provides that the sums received by 
the Secretary of the Interior for commuted town-site entries shall be 
paid over to the proper authorities of the municipalities when organized, 
to be used by them for school purposes only.. 

Before the money can be paid over there must be satisfactory evi- 
dence that the municipality has been organized as required by the laws 
of Oklahoma. 

In support of an application by the proper municipal officers for 
payment of the money deposited with the Secretary of the Interior 
for a particular commuted town-site entry the following evidence shall 
be furnished : 

First. A duly certified copy, under seal of the order of the board of 
county commissioners, declaring that the specified territory shall, with 
the assent of the qualified voters, be an incorporated town ; also the 
notice for a meeting of the electors, as required by paragraph 5 of 
article 1, chapter 16, of the statutes of Oklahoma. 

Second. A like certified copy of the statement of the inspectors filed 
with the board of county commissioners, also a like certified copy of 
the order of said board, declaring that the town has been incorporated, 
as provided by paragraph 9 of said article 1. 

Third. A like certified copy of the statement of the inspectors, filed 
with the county clerk, declaring who were elected to the office of trus- 
tees, clerk, marshal, assessor, treasurer, and justice of the peace, as 
provided by paragraph 16 of said article 1. 

Fourth. A like certified copj^, by the town clerk, of the proceedings 
of the board of trustees electing one of their number president; also a 
copy of the qualifications to act, by each of the officers mentioned, as 
provided by paragraph 19 of said article 1. 

Fifth. A certified copy, by the town clerk, of the proceedings of the 
board of trustees, designating some officer of the municipality to make 
application for and to receive the money to be paid by the Secretary of 
the Interior. 

Sixth. A proper application for the money by said designated officer. 

Said application shall be addressed to the Secretary of the Interior 
and may either be filed in the district land office for transmittal to this 
office or forwarded by the municipal authorities direct to this office. 
When the same is received by this office, if the application and accom- 
panying evidence are in accordance with the requirements herein men- 
tioned, it will be transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior and when 
approved by him the money will be paid over to the designated officer 
to be used by the municipality for school purposes only as required. 

12. When the towns herein provided for are organized as municipal- 
ities, applications, accompanied by proof of municipal organization 
similar to that provided in the preceding paragraph, shall be made for 
patents for the reservations which the act under consideration provides 
shall be made for parks, schools, and other public purposes, and which 
are to be donated to the municipalities when duly organized as such. 

The application for patent shall be made by the mayor or other 
proper municipal authority; shall be addressed to the Secretary of the 
Interior, and shall particularly describe the reservations to be patented 
according to the approved plats of said town site. Said application 
shall be filed in the district land office, and if the register and receiver 
find the accompanying evidence of municipal organization and author- 
ity to make application to be in accordance with these regulations, the 
register will issue certificate thereon, of the prescribed form (p. 301). 



58 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

When such certificate is examined and approved by this office patent 
will issue in accordance therewith. 

The regulations of July 18, 1890 (11 L. D., 68), and subsequent modi- 
fications thereof, inconsistent herewith, are hereby revoked (19 L. D., 

348). 

PUBLIC LANDS IN GXREER COUNTY, OKLA. 

Special provision has been made for the disposal of the public lands 
in Greer County, Okla., by acts of Congress of January 18, 1897 (29 
Stat., 490, Appendix No. 73, p. 245), and March 1, 1899 (30 Stat., 966, 
Appendix No. 81, p. 258). 

Section 1 of the act of January 18, 1897, provides that every person 
qualified under the homestead laws of the United States who on March 
16, 1896, was a bona fide occupant of land within the territory estab- 
lished as Greer County, Okla., shall be entitled to continue his occupa- 
tion of such land with improvements thereon, not exceeding 160 acres, 
and shall be allowed six months' preference right from the passage of 
this act within which to initiate his claims thereto. Time extended to 
January 1, 1898, by amendatory act of June 23, 1897 (30 Stat., 105). 

By the act of Congress approved March 1, 1899, section 1 of the act 
of January 18, 1897, was so amended as to allow parties who have had 
the benefit of the homestead laws of the United States and who bad 
purchased lands in said county from the State of Texas, prior to March 
16, 1896, to perfect title to said lands according to the provisions of the 
act of January 18, 1897, provided that no adverse rights may have 
attached to such lands. 

A party desiring to make a homestead entry under this section must 
present his formal application with the usual affidavits, accompanied 
by the fee and commissions required in an entry of minimum land, and 
a special affidavit showing that he was, on March 16, 1896, a bona fide 
occupant of the land he applies to enter. Title may be perfected at the 
expiration of five years from date of entry or within two years there- 
after under the provisions of the homestead law, or such person may 
receive credit for all time during which he or those under whom he 
claims have continuously occupied the land prior to March 16, 1896. 
Every such person shall also have the right for six months prior to all 
other persons to purchase at one dollar an acre, in five equal annual 
payments, any additional land of which he was in actual possession on 
March 16, 1896, not exceeding 160 acres, which, prior to said date, had 
been cultivated, purchased, or improved by him. 

A party wishing to avail himself of the above privilege must present 
his application to purchase (Form 4-001), together with the prescribed 
amount of purchase money for the land desired, which need not be 
contiguous to his homestead entry, together with evidence showing that 
he had prior to March 16, 1896, cultivated, purchased, or improved the 
same. Evidence of cultivation or improvement must consist of the affi- 
davit of the applicant, corroborated by the testimony of two or more 
witnesses, or, in case the claim is based on purchase, an abstract of title, 
or other documentary evidence showing the transfers under which the 
party claims as purchaser. No certificate can be issued until the entire 
amount of the purchase money shall have been paid, but the receiver 
will issue his receipt (Form 4-140a), properly modified, for the amount 
paid and deliver a duplicate thereof to the purchaser. 

When any person entitled to a homestead or additional land, as above 
provided, is the head of a family and though still living, shall not take 
such homestead or additional land within six months from the passage 



TITLE TO PURLIC LANDS. 59 

of this act, any member of such family over the age of 21 years, other 
than husband or wife, shall succeed to the right to take such homestead 
or additional land for three months longer, and any such member of the 
family shall also have the right to take, as before provided, any excess of 
additional land actually cultivated or improved prior to March 16, 1896, 
above the amount to which such head of the family is entitled, not to ex- 
ceed 1G0 acres to any one person thus taking as a member of such family, 
such family. 

Application for homestead or additional entry under this provision 
must be made in the same manner as heretofore prescribed. 

In case of the death of any settler who actually established residence 
and made improvement prior to March 16, 1896, the entry may be made 
by the party in interest, according to section 2291, United States 
Bevised Statutes. 

Section 2 provides for the disposal of all land in said county not 
occupied, cultivated, or improved, as provided in section 1, or not 
included within the limits of any town site or reserve, to actual settlers 
only, under the provisions of the homestead law. 

Any person applying to make entry under this section prior to the 
expiration of the preference right granted by section 1 will be allowed 
to make entry, subject to any valid adverse right under said section 1, 
on filing his affidavit that the land applied for is not occupied, culti- 
vated, or improved by any other person. 

Section 3 provides that the inhabitants of any town located in said 
county shall be entitled to enter the same as a town site under the pro- 
visions of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389 of the Eevised Statutes. 
Instructions relative to entry of town sites under said sections of the 
Eevised Statutes are found in circular of this office dated July 9, 1886, 
(5 L. D., 265). Under the proviso to this section of the law the corpo- 
rate authorities of the town or the judge of the county court who shall 
enter the town site shall accord to all persons a preference right to the 
town lots upon which they have made or own improvements. 

By section 4, sections numbered 16 and 36 are reserved for school 
purposes, as provided in laws relating to Oklahoma; and sections 13 
and 33 in each township are reserved for such purpose as the legisla- 
ture of the future State of Oklahoma may prescribe. That whenever 
any of the lands reserved for school or other purposes under this act, 
or under the laws of Congress relating to Oklahoma, shall be found to 
have been occupied by actual settlers or for town site purposes or home- 
steads prior to March 16, 1896, an equal quantity of indemnity lands 
may be selected as provided by law. 

Under section 5, the right of entry to land within said county, which 
on March 16, 1896, was occupied for church, cemetery, school, or other 
charitable or voluntary purposes, not for profit, is given to the proper 
authorities in charge thereof. 

In each case the maximum area to be so entered is 2 acres. Sections 
numbered 16 and 36, within each township within said county, are 
reserved by section 4 of this law for school purposes, and are exempted 
from the operations of this section. 

It will not be practicable for the register and receiver to locate land 
applied for under this section with the certainty required for an entry. 
They will, then, upon the presentment of such an application, forward 
the same to this office for appropriate action. 

Section 7 provides that all laws authorizing commutations of home- 
steads in Oklahoma shall apply to Greer County. This makes appli- 
cable section 22 of the act of May 2, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 81), where the 
commutation of a homestead entry for (own-site purposes is sought. 



60 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Instructions relative to procedure under said section 22 of the said 
act are found in circular of this office dated November 30, 1894. (19 
L. D., 348.) 

Commutation of homestead entries under section 7 of this act, except 
for town-site purposes, will be governed by the provisions of section 21, 
act of May 2, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 81), which requires the payment of $1.25 
per acre and proof of compliance with the homestead law for not less 
than twelve months from date of locating upon said homestead. 

Under the amendatory act the applicant, instead of stating that he 
has not had the benefit of the homestead laws of the [Jnited States, 
will only be required to state that he has not made a homestead entry of 
lands in Greer County, pursuant to the provisions of the act of January 
18, 1897. Under the terms of this amendatory act, and the authority 
to prescribe regulations thereunder, a preference right for a period of 
six months from March 1, 1899, is extended to the class provided for in 
said act. (See 28 L. D., 274.) 

The affidavit of the applicant under the amendatory act to the effect 
that no adverse rights existed to the lands applied for on March 1, 1899, 
will be sufficient upon which to allow the application, if no claim there- 
for has been filed in the local office. 

The manner of making entry or purchase under the amendatory act 
and the character of proof evidencing a purchase from the State of 
Texas will be the same as that governing entry or purchase under the 
act of January 18, 1897. 

DISPOSAL OP THE GREAT SIOUX INDIAN RESERVATION. 

Attention is called to the provisions of an act of Congress, approved 
March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. L., 888), entitled "An act to divide a portion of 
the reservation of the Sioux Nation of Indians in Dakota into separate 
reservations and to secure the relinquishment of the Indian title to the 
remainder, and for other purposes." (Appendix No. 33, p. 189.) 

The first six sections of said act set apart certain tracts for separate 
reservations. 

The seventh section provides for allotments to certain members of 
the San tee Sioux tribe of Indians upon the reservation occupied by 
them in Nebraska; confirms all allotments to said Indians hereto- 
fore made upon said reservation, and provides for allotments, or pay- 
ments in lieu thereof, to the members of the Flandreau band of Sioux 
Indians. 

The eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth sections provide for 
the allotment in severalty of the lands embraced in the separate reser- 
vations established by the act, and for the purchase and disposal by the 
United States of lands embraced therein at some future time. 

The thirteenth section provides that any Indian receiving and enti- 
tled to rations and annuities at either of the agencies mentioned in the 
act at the time the same shall take effect, but residing upon any portion 
of said Great Eeservation not included in either of the separate reser- 
vations established by said act may, at his option, within a stated time, 
have the allotment to which he would be otherwise entitled on one of 
said separate reservations upon the land where such Indian may then 
reside. 

The registers and receivers are therefore directed to exercise every 
care and precaution to prevent the entry or filing for any lands in said 
Great Eeservation which are in the occupancy of Indians entitled to 
allotments under the provisions of said act, which occupancy is to be 
protected to the full extent of the rights granted to the Indians therein. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 61 

The occupancy and possession of the Indians are regarded as sufficient 
notice of their rights to all parties concerned. 

The registers and receivers are instructed to advise all parties intend- 
ing to become settlers, either as agriculturists or under the town-site 
laws, of the extent of the rights of the Indians and of the impossibility 
of their acquiring rights in conflict therewith, and impressing on them 
the wrong and injustice of seeking to interfere with the Indians in their 
rightful occupancy of the lands, and that they can gain nothing thereby. 

Section 14 provides for regulations whereby the use of water neces- 
sary for agricultural purposes upon the separate reservations provided 
for by the act may be secured. 

Section 15 ratifies and makes valid all allotments of land taken 
within or without the limits of any of the separate reservations estab- 
lished bv this act, in conformity with the provisions of the treaty with 
the Great Sioux Nation concluded April 29, 1868. (15 Stat. L., 635.) 

Section 16 provides that the acceptance of the act shall release the 
Indian title to said Great Reservation, with the exceptions hereinbefore 
named, and also for certain railroad rights. 

Section 17 provides for schools, stock, and seeds for the Indians, 
punishment for trading with the Indians, and appropriation and expend- 
iture of a permanent fund for the Indians. 

Section 18 grants to religious societies, with certain limitations, any 
land in said Great Eeservation occupied for religious purposes. Said 
tracts are therefore reserved from disposal under the provisions of this 
act. 

Section 19 provides that the provisions of the said treaty concluded 
April 29, 1868, not in conflict with the provisions of this act are con- 
tinued in force, and section 20 provides for schoolhouses for the Indians. 

Section 21 restores to the public domain the Great Sioux Eeservation, 
with the exception of American Island, which is donated to Chamber- 
lain, S. Dak.; Farm Island, which is donated to Pierre, S. Dak.; Nio- 
brara Island, which is donated to Niobrara, Nebr., and the separate 
reservations described in said act, and provides for the disposal of said 
restored lands to actual settlers only, under the provisions of the home- 
stead law, with certain modifications, and under the law relating to 
town sites. Provision is made that each settler shall pay for the land 
taken by him, in addition to the fee and commissions on ordinary home- 
steads, 81.25 per acre for all lands disposed of within the first three 
years after the taking effect of the act, and the sum of 75 cents per acre 
for all lands disposed of within the next two years following thereafter, 
and 50 cents per acre for the residue of the lands then undisposed of. 
Said additional amount should not be collected when the original entry 
is made, but is required to be paid when final proof is tendered. The 
act was declared to be in fall force and effect by the President's 
proclamation of February 10, 1890. (Appendix No. 34, p. 201.)- 

The price which actual settlers are required to pay for said lands 
becomes fixed at the date of original entry, and any subsequent settler 
of land so entered and afterwards abandoned will be required to pay 
the same amount per acre as the settler who made the first entry. 

The general rules and regulations as to the homestead entries will 
apply to entries on these lands, except such modifications as are required 
by the provisions of said act of March 2, 1889, as herein noted. 

The rule laid down on page 49 of this circular as to soldiers' and sail- 
ors' additional entries in Oklahoma is also applicable as to such entries 
for these lands. 

It was provided in said act of March 2, 1889, that section 2301 of the 
Revised Statutes should not apply to these lands; but by section of 



62 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1095), the provisions of said sec- 
tion 2301 as thereby amended were made applicable to said lands, with 
the proviso that settlers should not be relieved from any payments thus 
required by law. 

Entries for these lands may therefore be commuted in accordance 
with the rules given on page 24 of this circular, and upon the pay- 
ment of any further sum required by law, including iinal homestead 
commissions. 

Under the act of March 3, 1899, persons who prior thereto settled on 
the Sioux Indian lands opened to settlement by the act of March 2, 
1889, may secure patents for the land embraced within their entries by 
making the payments required by section 21 of said act of 1889, with- 
out further payment, whether the proof and payment be made in four- 
teen months or five years from the date of settlement. 

In allowing town-site entries upon these lands the regulations con- 
tained in the circular of instructions relative to town sites on public 
lands of July 9, 1886 (5 L. D., 265), will govern. 

Eegisters and receivers are instructed to report filings and entries 
upon said lands in a separate, distinct, and consecutive series, and on 
separate abstracts, commencing with number one in each series, and 
report and account for the money received on account thereof in sepa- 
rate monthly and quarterly returns. 

Provision is also made in said section 21 of this act for the purchase 
by the Government of the lands unsold at the end of ten years from 
the taking effect of the act, for the reservation of highways around 
every section of said lands, and for the removal of Indians from the 
islands named in the section. 

Section 22 provides for the disposition of the proceeds of sales of said 
lands. 

Section 23 provides for entry, under the homestead, preemption, or 
town-site laws, within ninety days after the taking effect of the act, by 
parties who, between February 27, 1885, and April 17, 1885, entered upon 
or made settlements with intent to enter the same, under said laws, 
upon certain lands of said Great Eeservation therein named; but such 
settlers are required to comply with the laws regulating such entries, 
and, as to homesteads, with the special provisions of the act, before 
obtaining title to the lands, and preemption claimants are required to 
reside on their lands the same length of time before procuring title as 
homestead claimants under this act. 

Each applicant, under the provisions of this section, will be required 
to show by affidavit, corroborated by two witnesses, that he is qualified 
to make entry under said provisions, giving in full all the facts in con- 
nection with his alleged entry or settlement between said dates. 

Section 24 reserves sections 16 and 36 in every township of said lands 
for the use and benefit of the public schools, and therefore no entries 
or filings upon said sections can be allowed. 

Section 25 appropriates money for the survey of said lands; section 
26 provides that all expenses for the survey, platting, and disposal of 
said lands shall be borne by the United States; section 27 appropriates 
money to pay for ponies taken from the Indians ; section 28 declares the 
method by which the act shall become effective; section 29 appropri- 
ates money to be used in obtaining the assent of the Indians to the 
provisions of the act, and section 30 repeals all acts or parts of acts 
inconsistent with the provisions of the act. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 63 

"RESERVOIR LANDS" IN WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA DIS- 
POSED OF UNDER SPECIAL ACT. 

The act of Congress approved June 20, 1890 (2G Stat. L., 169; Appen- 
dix No. 39, p. 214), entitled "An act to authorize the President of the 
United States to cause certain lands heretofore withdrawn from market 
for reservoir purposes to be restored to the public domain subject to 
entry under the homestead law, with certain restrictions," made pro- 
vision for the entry of lands so restored. 

The statute, by its terms, did not take effect until December 20, 1890. 
No entry for or settlement upon said lands could be allowed before that 
date, and the lands were made subject to entry under the homestead 
law only. (See "Homesteads," p. 11 et seq.) 

Any person applying to enter or tile for a homestead on said lands 
was required first to make affidavit, in addition to other requirements, 
that he did not violate the law by entering upon and occupying any 
portion of said lands prior to December 20, 1890, the affidavit to accom- 
pany the official returns for the entry allowed. (Form No. 4-1 02a, p. 
285.) 

RIGHTS OF SETTLERS WITHIN RAILROAD LIMITS UNDER ACT 
OF JANUARY 13, 1881. 

Settlers within railroad limits who have purchased from a railroad 
company lands in railroad sections which are afterwards for any cause 
restored to the public domain are entitled to make entry of the lands 
so occupied by them, under the general provisions of the settlement 
laws. 

If they have exhausted their homestead, preemption, and timber- 
culture rights, they are allowed, under the act of January 13, 1881 (21 
Stat. L., 315; Appendix No. 22, p. 180), to purchase from the United 
States within three months after restoration, at $2.50 per acre, not 
exceeding 160 acres of land, which they settled upon and improved 
with the expectation of purchasing from the company. 

Every x)erson applying to make entry under the act of January 13, 
1881, must make and subscribe the following affidavit : 

I, , of , claiming the right to enter the of section , 

township , range , under the provisions of the act of Congress approved 

January 13, 1881, entitled " An act for the relief of certain settlers on restored rail- 
road lands, ;; do solemnly that I was an actual settler on said tract at the time 

of the restoration thereof to the puhlic domain of the United States, to wit, on the 

day of , 18— ; that prior to said time I had made valuahle and permanent 

improvements on the land; that my settlement was mode in good faith and with the 

permission or license of the Railroad Company, and with the expectation of 

purchasing said land from said company, and that I am not entitled to enter and 
acquire title to said land under the preemption, homestead, or timber-culture laws of 

the United States for the reason that ; and that my improvements on said land 

at the date of the restoration thereof to the public domain consisted of . 

The foregoing affidavit may be made before the register or receiver 
or any officer authorized to administer oaths in the county in which the 
lands are situated. It must be supported by satisfactory evidence that 
the settlement was made with the permission or license of the railroad 
company, and with the expectation of purchasing the land from said 
company. The testimony of two competent witnesses will be required, 
showing that applicant's settlement was made prior to the restoration 
of the land, and stating the value and extent of his or her improve- 
ments. (Circulars of January 28, 1881, and April 30, 1886.) 



64 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

ADJUSTMENT OF RAILROAD GRANTS AND DISPOSAL OF LANDS 
WITHIN RAILROAD LIMITS UNDER SPECIAL ACTS. 

In reference to the act of Congress of March 3, 1887 (24 Stat. L., 556; 
Appendix No. 31, p. 185), providing- for the immediate adjustment, by 
the Secretary of the Interior, of laud grants for railroads, with provi- 
sions in favor of actual settlers and of innocent purchasers from the 
railroad compauies, in cases indicated therein, and in accordance with 
prescribed principles, the following instructions were issued by the Sec- 
retary to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, November 22, 
1887 (6L.D.,276): 

The act of March 3, 1887, authorizes and directs the Secretary of the 
Interior to immediately adjust, in accordance with the decisions of the 
Supreme Court, each of the railroad land grants made by Congress to 
aid in the construction of railroads, and heretofore unadjusted. 

The second section of said act provides — 

That if it shall appear, upon the completion of such adjustments respectfully 
[respectively], or sooner, that lands have been, from any cause, heretofore errone- 
ously certified, or patented by the United States to or for the use or benefit of any 
company claiming by, through, or under grant from the United States, to aid in the 
construction of a railroad, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to 
thereupon demand from such company a relinquishment or reconveyance to the 
United States of all such lands, whether within granted or indemnity limits ; and if 
such company shall neglect or fail to so reconvey such lands to the United States 
within ninety days after the aforesaid demand shall be made, it shall thereupon be 
the duty of the Attorney-General to commence and prosecute in the proper courts 
the necessary proceedings to cancel all patents, certification, or other evidence of 
title heretofore issued for such lands, and to restore the title thereof to the United 
States. 1 

The provision contained in this section confers no greater power upon 
the Secretary of the Interior than be possessed before the passage of 
that act, and which from time to time has been exercised by that official 
in recommending to the Attorney-General that suits be brought to can- 
cel patents appearing to have been erroneously certified or patented 
for the benefit of any railroad company. 

The purpose of the act was to make that mandatory which before 
rested in the discretion of the Secretary in the exercise of his authority 
over the public lands. Heretofore the Secretary of the Interior might 
recommend and request the Attorney- General to institute suits for the 
cancellation of patents which, in his judgment, were erroneously issued 
for the benefit of any railroad company under its grants, and the 
Attorney-General, in the exercise of his authority, might grant or refuse 
such request as in his judgment might seem proper; but under the act 
above referred to, whenever it shall appear upon the completion of the 
adjustment of any railroad land grant, or sooner, that any lands have 
been erroneously certified or patented for the benefit of said company, 
it is made the imperative duty of the Secretary of the Interior to 
demand of said company a relinquishment or reconveyance to the 
United States of all such lands; and if the company neglects or fails 
to reconvey the same it shall thereupon be the duty of the Attorney- 
General to commence and prosecute in the proper courts necessary 
proceedings to cancel the patents for said lands, and to restore the title 
thereof to the United States. 

Therefore, if in the adjustment of the grant of any road it should 
appear from the records in your office that any lands within either the 
granted or indemnity limits of such road have been erroneously certi- 

1 See page 70 as to amendatory act of March 2, 1896. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 65 

fied or patented for the benefit of such company, either from an improper 
adjustment of the limits of said grant or from the erroneous cancella- 
tion of any filing or entry, or from any cause whatever, you will report 
such facts to the Department for action thereon, stating fully and spe- 
cifically the grounds upon which it is supposed such tracts were errone- 
ously certified or patented and whether said tracts are within the 
granted or indemnity limits of said road. 
The third section of said act provides — 

That if, in the adjustment of said grants, it shall appear that the homestead or 
preemption entry of any bona fide settler has been erroneously canceled on account 
of any railroad grant or the withdrawal of public lands from market, such settler 
upon application shall be reinstated in all his rights and allowed to perfect his entry 
by complying with the public land laws : Provided, That he has not located another 
claim or made an entry in lieu of the one so erroneously canceled: And provided also, 
That he did not voluntarily abandon said original entry: And provided further, That 
if any of said settlers do not renew their application to be reinstated within a 
reasonable time, to be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior, then all such unclaimed 
lands shall be disposed of under the public land laws, with priority of right given 
to bona fide purchasers of said unclaimed lands, if any, and if there be no such 
purchasers, then to bona fide settlers residing thereon. 

This section does not embrace any lands that have been certified or 
patented to the company, but has reference solely to lands the right and 
claim to which has heretofore been adjudicated in favor of the company 
as against the right of a settler upon said lands, and which are still 
under the control and jurisdiction of the Department. The object and 
purpose of this section is to correct all decisions made by the Depart- 
ment or the General Land Office where it shall appear in the examina- 
tion of any land grant heretofore unadjusted that the homestead or 
preemption entry of a bona fide settler was erroneously canceled. In 
such case a final decision of a former or the present Secretary is not 
only no longer a bar to the further consideration of the question decided, 
but it is made the duty of the Secretary to readjudicate the case, not- 
withstanding the former decision, whenever it appears that the pre- 
emption or homestead entry of any bona fide settler has been erroneously 
canceled on account of any railroad grant or of withdrawal of public 
lands from market. 

In the adjustment of each grant to aid in the construction of railroads, 
the Commissioner of the General Land Office will make report upon all 
preemption and homestead entries of bona fide settlers that may in his 
judgment appear from the records to have been erroneously canceled 
either because the land is within the limits of the railroad grant or 
because it has been withdrawn for indemnity purposes for said road, 
provided the right to the tract has been decided in favor of the com- 
pany, and forward said report to the Department for consideration and 
action thereon, stating fully and specifically as to each particular tract, 
the grounds upon which he may determine that said preemption and 
homestead entries were erroneously canceled, and the right to the land 
erroneously decided in favor of the company; and upon filing said 
report he will cause notice thereof to be given to both parties, advising 
them that said case will be held by this Department for thirty days 
before action, during which time they can make such showing as they 
may desire. 

If in such report he should determine that the preemption or home- 
stead entry of any bona fide settler has been erroneously canceled and 
the right to the land adjudged in favor of the railroad and his decision 
thereon shall be sustained by the Department, after due notice the 
land will then be subject to disposal as provided for in said section; 
3073 5 



66 TITLE TO PUBLIC LA.NDS. 

that is, the settler whose entry was erroneously canceled will be 
notified of his right to make application to be reinstated in all his 
rights, and if such settler shall make such application within a reason- 
able time, to be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior in such notice, 
he shall be reinstated in all his rights: Provided, That he shows affirm- 
atively that he has not located another claim or made an entry in lieu 01 
the one so erroneously canceled, and that he did not voluntarily aban- 
don said original entry. If said settler should fail to make applica 
tion within the time required, and to show that he has not located 
another claim or made an entry in lieu of the one so erroneously can- 
celed, and that he did not voluntarily abandon said original entry, 
then all such unclaimed lands shall be disposed of under the public 
land laws, with priority of right given to bona fide purchasers of said 
unclaimed lands, if any, and if there be no such purchasers, then to 
bona fide settlers residing thereon. The bona fide purchasers here 
referred to are those who, without knowledge of wrong or error, have 
purchased from the railroad company lands which had been previously 
entered by the preemption or homestead settler, whose entry has been 
erroneously canceled as described in the first clause of the third sec- 
tion, and which land the preemption or homestead settler did not elect 
to claim after recovery by the proceedings prescribed by the second sec- 
tion of the act. 

As to the lands which have been erroneously certified or patented to 
the company (being the lands referred to in the second section), the 
fourth section of the act provides for the disposal of such of those lands 
as may have been sold by the company to citizens of the United States 
or persons who have declared their intention to become such citizens, 
upon the following conditions : 

After said lands shall have been reconveyed to the Government or 
the title to the same recovered, the class of persons above referred to 
so purchasing in good faith, their heirs or assigns shall be entitled to 
the lands so purchased upon making proof of such purchase at the 
proper land office within such time and under such rules as may be pre- 
scribed by the Secretary of the Interior, after the grants respectively 
shall have been adjusted, and patent shall issue to such persons, which 
shall relate back to the original certification or patenting. The section 
then provides that the Secretary of the Interior shall demand of the 
company payment for said lands of an amount equal to the Govern- 
ment price of similar lands, and in case of the neglect or refusal of the 
company to make* payment thereof within ninety days after demand, 
the Attorney-General shall cause suits to be brought against the com- 
pany for said amount. Under the act the purchaser of such lands from 
the company may recover from the company the purchase money paid 
by him less the amount paid by the company to the United States. 

A mortgage or pledge of said lands by the company is not a sale 
within the meaning of the act. 

The object of this section is to confirm to the purchaser the title to 
the lands therein referred to upon making proof of such purchase, and 
that the purchaser has the qualifications required by the act without 
requiring of the purchaser any further payment to the Government of 
the purchase price of said lands. 1 

The fifth section of said act reads as follows: 

That where any said company shall have sold to citizens of the United States, or 
to persons who have declared their intention to become such citizens, as a part of its 
grant, lands not conveyed to or for the use of such company, said lands being the 



See page 70 as to amendatory act of February 12, 1896. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 67 

numbered sections prescribed in the grant, and being coterminous -with the con- 
structed parts of said road, and where the lands so sold are for any reason excepted 
from the operation of the grant to said company, it shall be lawful for the bona iide 
purchaser thereof from said company to make payment to the United States for said 
lands at the ordinary Government price for like lauds, and thereupon patents shall 
issue therefor to the said bona fide purchaser, his heirs or assigns : Provided, That all 
lands shall be excepted from the provisions of this section which at the date of such 
sales were in the bona fide occupation of adverse claimants under the preemption or 
homestead laws of the United States, and whose claims and occupation have not 
since been voluntarily abandoned, as to which excepted lands the said preemption 
and homestead claimants shall be permitted to perfect their proofs and entries and 
to receive patent therefor: Provided, further. That this section shall not apply to 
lauds settled upon subsequent to the 1st day of December, 1882, by persons claiming 
to enter the same under the settlement laws of the United States, as to which lands 
the parties claiming the same as aforesaid shall be entitled to prove up and enter as 
in other like cases. 

Under this section, when the company has sold to citizens of the 
United States or persons who have declared their intention to become 
such citizens, the numbered sections prescribed in the grant and coter- 
minous with the constructed portions of the road, within either the 
granted or indemnity limits, and which upon the adjustment of the 
grant are shown to be excepted from the operation ot the grant, it shall 
be lawful for such purchasers (if their purchases are bona fide) to pur- 
chase said lands from the Government by payment of the Government 
price for like lands, unless said lands were at the date of purchase in 
the bona fide occupation of adverse claimants under the preemption or 
homestead laws, in which case the preemptor or homestead claimant 
may be permitted to perfect his proof unless he has since voluntarily 
abandoned the land. 

Under the last proviso of said section, however, if a settlement was 
made on said lands subsequent to December 1, 1882, by persons claim- 
ing the same under the settlement laws of the United States, it will 
defeat the right of the purchaser, whether said purchase was made 
prior to or subsequent to December 1, 1882, and the settler will be 
allowed to prove up for said lands as in other like cases. 

The sixth section provides that when any such lands have been sold 
and conveyed as the property of the company for State and county 
taxes, and the grant to the company has been thereafter forfeited, the 
purchaser at such sale shall have the preference right for one year from 
the date of the act in which to purchase said lands from the United 
States by paying the Government price for said lands, provided said 
lands were not, previous to or at the time of the taking effect of such 
grant, in the possession of or subject to the right of an actual settler. 

The seventh section provides : 

That no more lands shall be certified or conveyed to any State or to any corpora- 
tion or individual, for the benefit of either of the companies herein mentioned, where 
it shall appear to the Secretary of the Interior that such transfers may create an 
excess over the quantity of lands to which such State, corporation, or individual 
would be rightfully entitled. 

The following instructions under the act of Congress approved March 
3, 1887 (24 Stat. L., 556), were issued February 13, 1889 (8 L. D., 348): 

The first section directs that all railroad land grants not adjusted heretofore 
shall be adjusted immediately, that is, without unnecessary delay. The duties there- 
under pertain to the General Land Office and Department of the Interior. 

The second section provides for the recovery by the United States of title to 
lands which from any cause have been erroneously certified or patented "to or for 
the use or benefit of any company" on account of a railroad grant, whenever the 
fact may be ascertained that a certificate or patent has been erroneously issued, and 
prescribes the duties of the Secretary of the Interior and Attorney-General in con- 
nection therewith. 



68 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

The third section provides "that if in the adjustment of said grants it shall 
appear that the homestead or preemption entry of any bona fide settler has been 
erroneously canceled on account of any railroad grant, or the withdrawal of public 
lands from market, such settler, upon application, shall be reinstated in all his 
rights, and allowed to perfect his entry by complying with the public land laws : 
Provided, That he has not located another claim or made an entry in lieu of the one 
so erroneously canceled: And provided also, That he did not voluntarily abandon said 
original entry: And provided further, That if any of said settlers do not renew their 
application to be reinstated within a reasonable time, to be fixed by the Secretary of 
the Interior, then all such unclaimed lands shall be disposed of under the public 
land laws, with priority of right given to bona fide purchasers of said unclaimed 
land, if any; and if tnere be no such purchasers, then to bona fide settlers residing 
thereon." 

Three classes of persons are provided for under this section. 

First. Bona fide settlers whose homestead or preemption entries have been errone- 
ously canceled on account of a railroad grant or withdrawal. 

Second. Bona fide purchasers of such unclaimed lands. 

Third. Bona fide settlers residing thereon. 

The rights of the several classes to the lands referred to in the section are succes- 
sive in the order stated in the section. The first in right is the homestead or pre- 
emption settler whose entry has been wrongfully canceled. If he elects to assert his 
right, and has not been disqualified by locating another claim or making another 
entry in lieu of the entry erroneously canceled, his right is absolute, and the suc- 
cessive rights of the remaining two classes can not attach if he lawfully asserts his 
claim. If he fail to claim the land, or is disqualified under the act, the second class 
of persons, who are the bona fide purchasers of the land unclaimed by him, attach, 
and have precedence over the third, class. The bona fide purchasers here referred to 
are those who, without knowledge of wrong or error, have purchased from the rail- 
road company lands which have been previously entered by a preemption or home- 
stead settler, whose entry has been erroneously canceled, as described in the first 
clause of the third section, and which land the preemption or homestead settler did 
not elect to claim after the recovery by the proceedings prescribed by the second 
section of the act. — Attorney -General's Opinion, November 1.7, 1887 (6 L. D., 272). 

Parties of the first class desiring to avail themselves of the benefits of this section 
should present their applications without unnecessary delay, after notice of inten- 
tion as required by the act of March 3, 1879, in preemption and homestead cases. 
The application must in every instance be accompanied by proof showing — 

1. The facts respecting the date of the applicant's settlement, duration of resi- 
dence, and value of improvements upon the land. 

2. Whether he has located any other claim under any of the laws of the United 
States authorizing settlements upon public lands. 

3. Whether he has abandoned the land embraced in his canceled entry or filing; if 
so, the causes which led to the abandonment. 

4. Whether any other person or persons are residing upon the land. 

5. That such persons as maybe so residing upon the land have been notified of the 
intention of the claimant to apply for the reinstatement of his filing or entry, and 
the manner of giving such notice must be shown. 

Should an adverse claimant appear to dispute or contest the right of reinstatement, 
proceedings will be had in accordance with Rules of Practice as in ordinary contests. 

While the act contains no provision relative to persons whose entries or filings have 
not been canceled, but whose lands have been certified or patented on account of rail- 
road grants, it follows as a matter of course that their rights should be protected, 
and the mode of procedure in such cases will be the same as in the cases where can- 
cellation has been made, except that the parties should apply to make final proof and 
payment instead of for reinstatement of entry ; but in such case proceedings will be 
deferred until the title has been restored to the United States, as provided by section 
2 of the act. The instructions of November 22, 1887, under this section, are hereby 
modified in accordance with the foregoing. 

Proceedings on applications by parties of the second class will be governed by 
instructions under the fourth section. 

Applicants of the third class will be required to submit evidence, in addition to 
that relating to their own settlement or claims, showing whether there are persons 
of the first or second class residing upon, in possession of, or claiming lands. 

The fourth section relates to all lands which have been erroneously certified or 
patented on account of railroad grants, except those mentioned in the third section, 
and by the grantee company sold to citizens or to persons who have declared their 
intention to become citizens of the United States ; and provides that after the title 
to such lands has been restored to the United States as contemplated by the second 
section of the act, persons who have purchased such land in good faith, their heirs 
or assigns, shall be entitled to the lands upon making proof at the proper land office, 
whereupon patents shall issue relating back to the date of the original certification 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 69 

or patenting, and the grantee company will be required to pay the United States 
for such lauds at the price at which other similar lands are legally held by the 
Government. 

The purchaser from the company is not debarred by the act from recovering from 
the company the amount of purchase money paid by him, less the amount paid by 
the company to the United States for the land. 

A mortgage or pledge of such lands is not a sale within the intention of the act. 

No forfeiture is declared by this act against any land grant for conditions broken 
(and no entry is authorized for lands legally within such grant), but no rights of the 
United States on account of breach of conditions are waived by the act. 

An applicant for land under this section will be required to publish notice of 
intention to make proof as in preemption and homestead cases, and the proof must 
show — 

1. That he is or has declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States. 

2. That he is a bona fide purchaser from the company or some person claiming 
title under it, and the character of the instrument conveying the land to him. 

3. The amount of purchase money paid to the company. 

4. What part, if any, of the purchase money paid to the company has been refunded 
to him or any person acting as his agent. 

5. Whether he has instituted proceedings against the company for the recovery of 
any portion of the purchase money ; if so, for what portion. 

6. The value and character of the improvements, u any, made or acquired by him 
upon the land. 

7. Whether there is any person of the first class under the third section entitled to 
the right of entry under the preemption or homestead laws. 

Upon the submission of satisfactory proof as prescribed above the register will 
issue certificate in duplicate, numbered in the regular cash series, with annotations 
thereon showing that the entry is allowed without payment under the fourth section 
of the act of March 3, 1887. (24 Stat. L., 556.) 

The fifth section relates to lands within the limits of railroad grants, coter- 
minous with constructed portions of the lines of road, not conveyed on account of, 
but excepted from, the grants. 

Under this section, when the company has sold to citizens of the United States or 
persons who have declared their intention to become such citizens, the numbered 
sections prescribed in the grant and coterminous with the constructed portions of 
the road, within either the granted or indemnity limits, and which upon the adjust- 
ment of the grant are shown to be excepted from the operation of the grant, it shall 
be lawful for such purchasers (if their purchases are bona fide) to purchase said land 
from the Government by payment of the Government price for like lands, unless said 
lands were at the date of purchase in the bona fide occupancy of adverse claimants 
under the preemption or homestead laws, in which case the preemptor or homestead 
claimant may be permitted to perfect his proof, unless he has since voluntarily 
abandoned the land. 

Under the last proviso of said section, however, if a settlement was made on said 
lands subsequent to December 1, 1882, by persons claiming the same under the settle- 
ment laws of the United States, it will defeat the right of the purchaser, whether 
said purchase was made prior or subsequent to December 1, 1882, and the settler will 
be allowed to prove up for said lands as in other like cases. 

Applicants to purchase uuder this section will be required to publish notice of 
intention as directed by instructions under the third and fourth sections, and the 
proof must show — 

1. That the tract was of the numbered sections prescribed by the grant. 

2. That it was coterminous with constructed parts of said road. 

3. That it was sold by the company to the applicant, or one under whom he claims, 
as a part of its grant. 

4. That it was excepted from the operation of the grant. 

5. That at the date of said sale it was not in the bona fide occupancy of adverse 
claimants under the preemption or homestead laws, whose claims and occupancy 
have not since been voluntarily abandoned. 

6. That it has not been settled upon subsequent to the 1st day of December, 1882, 
by any person or persons claiming the right to enter the same under the settlement 
laws. 

7. That the applicant is, or has declared his intention to become, a citizen of the 
United States. 

8. And that be, or on© under whom he claims, was a bona fide purchaser of the land 
from the company. 

The proof upon these points being found satisfactory, the entry will be allowed 
and the usual cash certificate and receipts will be issued thereon reciting the fact 
that the entry is in accordance with the fifth section of the act of March 3, 1887. 
(24 Stat. L., 556.) 



70 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

No entry will be allowed under this section until it shall have been finally deter- 
mined by this Department that the land was excepted from the grant. 

The sixth section provides that when any such lands have been sold and con- 
veyed as the property of the company for State and county taxes, and the grant to 
the company has been thereafter forfeited, the purchaser at such sale shall have the 
preference right for one year from the date of this act, and no longer, in which to 
purchase said lands from the United States by paying the Government price for said 
lands, provided said lands were not previous to or at the time of the taking effect of 
such grant in the possession of or subject to the rights of an actual settler. 

The period prescribed by the statute for presenting applications under this section 
having expired, instructions as to methods of procedure are deemed unnecessary. 

The seventh section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to refuse to certify 
or convey lands on account of any railroad grant where it shall appear to him that 
to do otherwise would give to the grantee more lands than the granting act contem- 
plated giving. 

The protection granted to settlers by the last proviso to section 5 of 
this act is restricted to those persons who in good faith settled upon 
the land subsequent to December 1, 1882, and prior to the passage of 
the act, in ignorance of the rights or equities of others in the premises. 
(11 L. D., 607.) 

By act of Congress of March 2, 1896 (29 Stat., 42; Appendix Ko. 67, 
p. 240), the time within which suits might be brought to vacate patents 
erroneously issued under a railroad or wagon-road grant, as limited by 
section 8 of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat., 1093), was extended to 
five years from the date of said act of March 2. 1896, if theretofore 
issued, and if thereafter issued to six years from the date of issue, with 
the additional provision that no patent to airy lands held by a bona fide 
purchaser shall be vacated or annulled, but that the right and title of 
such purchaser is confirmed, suit in such case to be instituted against 
the corporation for the value of the land, which in no case shall be more 
than the minimum Government price thereof. 

The word "purchaser," as used in the act of March 2, 1896, includes 
one who, under a subsisting contract of purchase made in good faith, 
holds lands erroneously patented or certified on account of a railroad 
grant, and title is confirmed in such a purchaser by said act, even 
though he may not have made all the payments called for under said 
contract of purchase. 

On application for confirmation of the title held by an alleged bona 
fide purchaser, if such application for confirmation embraces land which 
was covered by a homestead or preemption entry that has been errone- 
ously canceled on account of the railroad grant, such entryman will be 
notified and given opportunity to apply for reinstatement under section 
3, act of March 3, 1887. 

By the previous act of February 12, 1896 (29 Stat., 6; Appendix No. 
66, p. 240), section 4 of the act of March 3, 1887, was amended by 
adding thereto the following proviso, viz: 

Provided further, That where such purchasers, their heirs or assigns, have paid 
only a portion of the purchase price to the company, which is less than the Govern- 
ment price of similar lands, they shall be required, before the delivery of patent for 
their lands, to pay the Government a sum equal to the difference between the portion 
of the Government price so paid and the Government price, and in such cases the 
amount demanded from the company shall be the amount paid to it by such purchaser. 

FOR THE RELIEF OF SETTLERS ON RAILROAD LANDS. 

By the act of Congress approved June 22, 1874 (18 Stat. L., 194), an 
inducement was offered to such railroad companies as may be found 
entitled to lands embraced in filings and entries by settlers to relinquish 
in favor of such settlers, and receive other lands in lieu of those sur- 
rendered. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 71 

By the act of Congress approved August 29, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 369), 
the above-mentioned act was amended. 

It appears to be the intention of this amendment to enlarge the class 
of cases in which relinquishment by the company will be permissible 
under the act of June 22, 1874, by removing the requirement that an 
entry or filing should have been allowed, thus aiding the adjustment of 
claims growing out of settlements made upon railroad lands subsequent 
to the attachment of the rights of the companies under the grants. 

Upon the filing of a relinquishment under this act, it being shown 
that the person in whose favor it is made is entitled to the right of 
homestead or preemption, and has resided upon and improved the land 
for a period of five years, the register and receiver will permit entry to 
be made as in the case of other public lands, it being held by this 
Department that a relinquishment under the act of June 22, 1874, 
releases the land from all claim of the company, and it thereby becomes 
subject to disposal under the general land laws. (6 L. D., 716; 7 L. D., 
481*.) 

The right to select indemnity under this act extends to any nonmin- 
eral public lands within the limits of the grant (18 L. D., 275); but the 
acceptance of the relinquishment does not amount to an approval of 
the selection based thereon (8 L. D., 472), as a relinquishment confers 
no right upon the company if the land covered thereby was, in fact, 
excepted from the grant. (10 L. D., 264.) 

The relinquishment may be made by a simple waiver of claim when 
the land has not been certified or patented to, or for, the benefit of the 
company; but when the title has passed, formal reconveyance will be 
required. 

This act is not mandatory upon the companies, and confers no right 
upon the settler, as against the company, in the absence of a relin- 
quishment. 

It simply provides a mode of adjustment dependent upon the volun- 
tary action of the companies, and it is hoped that by a liberal and 
mutual spirit of compromise and concession the benefits intended for 
the settler may be made available. (11 L. D., 434.) 

The act of Congress of April 14, 1896 (29 Stat., 91), enacted that 
authority be, and is hereby, given the New Orleans Pacific Eailroad to 
relinquish any lands within the indemnity limits of its grant, which by 
decision of the Land Department of the Government has been awarded 
it, in favor of any settler entitled to the right of entry under the laws 
of the United States who has been allowed to make entry thereof, or 
who has resided upon and improved the same for five years, and to 
select in lieu thereof an equal quantity of other lands, from any of the 
public lands not mineral, and within the limits of its grant and not 
otherwise appropriated at the date of selection, to which it shall receive 
title the same as though originally granted. 

RELIEF OF SETTLERS ON LANDS IN SECOND INDEMNITY BELT, 
NORTHERN PACIFIC GRANT. 

The act of Congress entitled "An act for the relief of settlers on 
Northern Pacific Railroad indemnity lands," approved October 1, 1890 
(26 Stat. L., 647; Appendix No. 41, p. 219), contains two sections. 

By the first section of the act the right is given to those persons 
who, after August 15, 1887, and before January 1, 1889, settled upon, 
improved, and made final proof under the homestead and preemption 
laws, for lands within what is known as the second indemnity belt of 



72 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the grant for the Northern Pacific Railroad, to transfer their entries to 
any other vacant Government land they may select, in compact form, 
and subject to entry under the homestead arid preemption laws, and to 
receive final certificates and receipts therefor, in lieu of the entries 
heretofore made in said second indemnity belt, provided the transfer 
be made within twelve months from the passage of the act. 

In case of the death of any person so entitled, the transfer may be 
made by his legal representative. 

The right given is personal and can not be transferred, nor can the 
transfer provided for in the act be made through the intervention of an 
agent or attorney; further, no transfer will be approved by the Land 
Department except where the proof made upon the original entry shows 
a satisfactory compliance with law in the matter of residence and 
improvement. 

When application is made for such transfer, the register and receiver 
will require the applicant to make affidavit as to tbe facts in relation 
to his former entry, and whether he has received the return of the fees 
and commissions, or purchase money, paid upon said entry; and in the 
event that he has received such return they will require that he make 
payment anew for the land to which the transfer is made. 

The second section provides for a similar transfer within one year 
from the passage of the act, where persons, possessing the requisite 
qualifications under the homestead or preemption laws, in good faith 
have settled upon and improved lands in said second indemnity belt, 
having made filing or entry of the same, and for any reason otherwise 
than voluntary abandonment, failed to make proof thereon. The entry 
or filing must have been allowed within the time specified in section 1. 

In making proof upon the tract to which the transfer is made, credit 
will be given for the period of bona fide residence and amount of 
improvements made upon the tract heretofore entered or filed for in said 
second indemnity belt; but final entry will not be permitted except 
upon proof of continuous residence upon the land to which the transfer 
is made for a period of not less than three months prior to the making 
of proof. 

When application is made for transfer under this section, the regis- 
ter and receiver will require that the party make affidavit as to the 
facts relative to the former entry or filing; and where the fees and com- 
missions paid thereon have been returned, it will be necessary that he 
make payment anew before the allowance of the transfer. 

Said affidavit must be corroborated by at least two witnesses having 
knowledge in relation to the party's residence and improvement upon 
the land from which the transfer is sought, and should satisfactorily 
show a compliance with the requirements of law to the extent claimed, 
as the same will necessarily form a part of the final proof for the land 
to which the transfer is made. 

The corroborating affidavits may be made before any officer authorized 
to administer oaths. 

Final payment upon entries and filings transferred under this section 
will be made as under existing laws. (Circular of November 7, 1890, 
11 L. D., 435.) 

Another act of Congress relative to Northern Pacific indemnity lands 
was approved June 3, 1896 (29 Stat., 245; Appendix No. 72, p. 244), as 
to which instructions were issued August 5, 1896, as follows, viz : 

The act contains three sections. 

By the first section those persons, their heirs or legal representatives, 
who between August 15, 1887, and January 1, 1889, settled upon and 
made final proof and entry for land within what is known as the second 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 73 

indemnity belt of the Northern Pacific Railroad grant, within the State 
of Minnesota, which entries, without their fault, were afterwards can- 
celed, are allowed to make homestead entry of a quantity of unappro- 
priated public lands, subject to homestead entry, equal in acreage to 
that embraced in the canceled entry, and to receive patent therefor 
without settlement, improvement, or cultivation ; and those persons, their 
heirs or legal representatives, who, between the dates aforesaid, for six 
months settled upon, improved, and cultivated any land within said 
second indemnity belt with a view to homestead or preemption entry, 
who, being qualified, were not permitted to make such entries, are 
allowed to enter under the homestead laws a quantity of land, unappro- 
priated and subject to homestead entry, equal to that settled upon, 
improved, and cultivated; and, when making proof and final entry, are 
entitled to credit for the settlement, improvement, and cultivation of 
said indemnity land. 

The entry authorized by this act must be made under the homestead 
law, and the fact that a claimant had previously made a homestead 
entry is no bar to an entry under it, provided he was qualified to make 
the entry made or intended to be made of said indemnity land, such 
land being within the State of Minnesota, and that he has not since 
made entry under and obtained the benefit of the homestead law; and 
in the event of an application to commute, the law applicable to com- 
mutations prior to the amendment of Section 2301 of the Eevised Stat- 
utes, by the act of March 3, 1891, will govern. 

Applicants of the first-class for entry under this section will be 
required to make affidavit as to the facts in relation to their former 
entries, and as to whether they have received back the fees and com- 
missions or the purchase money paid upon such entries; and incase 
they have done so the register and receiver will require them to make 
payment for the land entered under this act. 

Applicants of the second class will be required to make affidavit as to 
the facts relative to their settlement, residence on, and improvement of 
the indemnity land aforesaid, and where entry or filing was made to 
facts in relation thereto; and where fees and commissions have been 
returned it will be necessary that payment be made for any entry made 
under this section. 

Said affidavits must be corroborated by at least two witnesses having 
knowledge of the facts set forth therein, and should satisfactorily show 
compliance with the requirements of the law to the extent claimed, as 
they will form a part of the final proof for the land sought. 

Under the second section persons entitled to homestead entries under 
the first section may make such entries of any of the agricultural lands 
embraced in the provisions of the act of Congress approved January 
14, 1889 (25 Stat., 642), entitled "An act for the relief and civilization 
of the Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota," upon payment of 
$1.25 per acre therefor. 

Under the provision of the third section the right of entry given by 
the act is personal and can not be transferred or assigned, but in case 
of death of the person entitled to enter, the entry may be made by his 
heirs or legal representatives; and no valid conveyance, sale, or trans- 
fer of the land entered can be made prior to the issue of patent. 

By the act of July 1, 1898 (30 Stat., 620), provisions were made to 
facilitate the adjustment of conflicting claims to lands within the limits 
of the Northern Pacific grant as follows: 

That where, prior to January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, the whole 
or any part of an odd-numbered section, in either the granted or the indemnity 
limits of the land grant to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, to which the 



74 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

right of the grantee or its lawful successor is claimed to have attached by definite 
location or selection, has been purchased directly from the United States or settled 
upon or claimed in good faith by any qualified settler under color of title or claim 
of right under any law of the United States or any ruling of the Interior Depart- 
ment, and where purchaser, settler, or claimant refuses to transfer his entry as here- 
inafter provided, the railroad grantee or its successor in interest, upon a proper 
relinquishment thereof, shall be entitled to select in lieu of the land relinquished an 
equal quantity of public lands, surveyed or unsurveyed, not mineral or reserved, and 
not valuable for stone, iron, or coal, and free from valid adverse claim or not occu- 
pied by settlers at the time of such selection, situated within any State or Territory 
into which such railroad grant extends, and patents shall issue for the land so 
selected as though it had been originally granted, but all selections of unsurveyed 
lands shall be of odd-numbered sections, to be identified by the survey when made, 
and patent therefor shall issue to and in the name of the corporation surrendering 
the lands before mentioned, and such patents shall not issue until after the survey : 
Provided, however, That the Secretary of the Interior shall from time to time ascer- 
tain and, as soon as conveniently may be done, cause to be prepared and delivered 
to the said railroad grantee or its successor in interest a list or lists of the several 
tracts which have been purchased or settled upon or occupied as aforesaid, and 
are now claimed by said purchasers or occupants, their heirs or assigns, accord- 
ing to the smallest Government subdivisions. And. all right, title, and interest of 
the said railroad grantee or its successor in interest in and to any of such tracts 
which the said railroad grantee or its successor in interest may relinquish hereunder 
shall revert to the United States, and such tracts shall be treated, under the laws 
thereof, in the same manner as if no rights thereto had ever vested in the said rail- 
road grantee, and all qualified persons who have occupied and may be on said lands 
as herein provided, or who have purchased said lands in good faith as aforesaid, 
their heirs and assigns, shall be permitted to prove their titles to said lands accord- 
ing to law, as if said grant had never been made; and upon such relinquishment 
said Northern Pacific Railroad Company or its lawful successor in interest may pro- 
ceed to select, in the manner hereinbefore provided, lands in lieu of those relin- 
quished, and patents shall issue therefor: Provided farther, That the railroad 
grantee or its successor in interest shall accept the said list or lists so to be made by 
the Secretary of the Interior as conclusive with respect to the particular lands to be 
relinquished by it, but it shall not be bound to relinquish lands sold or contracted 
by it or la^ds which it uses or needs for railroad purposes, or lands valuable for 
stone, iron, or coal : And provided further, That whenever any qualified settler shall 
in good faith make settlement in pursuance of existing law upon any odd-numbered 
sections of unsurveyed public lands within the said, railroad grant to which the 
right of such railroad grantee or its successor in interest has attached, then upon 
proof thereof satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior, and a due relinquishment 
of the prior railroad right, other lands may be selected in lieu thereof by said rail- 
road grantee or its successor in interest, as hereinbefore provided, and patents shall 
issue therefor: And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be con- 
strued as intended or having the effect to recognize the Northern Pacific Railway 
Company as the lawful successor of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company in 
the ownership of the lands granted by the United States to the Northern Pacific 
Railroad Company, under and by virtue of foreclosure proceedings against said 
Northern Pacific Railroad Company in the courts of the United States, but the 
legal question whether the said Northern Pacific Railway Company is such lawful 
successor of the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company, should the question be 
raised, shall be determined wholly without reference to the provisions of this act, 
and nothing in this act shall be construed as enlarging the quantity of land which 
the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company is entitled to under the laws here- 
tofore enacted: And provided further, That all qualified settlers, their heirs or 
assigns, who prior to January first, eighteen hundred and ninety eight, purchased 
or settled upon or claimed in good faith, under color of title or claim of right 
under any law of the United States or any ruling of the Interior Department, any 
part of an odd-numbered section in either the granted or indemnity limits of the 
land grant to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to which the right of such 
grantee or its lawful successor is claimed to have attached by definite location or 
selection, may in lieu thereof transfer their claims to an equal quantity of public 
lands surveyed or unsurveyed, not mineral or reserved, and not valuable for stone, 
iron, or coal, and free from valid adverse claim, or not occupied by a settler at the 
time of such entry, situated in any State or Territory into which such railroad grant 
extends, and make proof therefor as in other cases provided; and in making such 
proof, credit shall be given for the period of their bona fide residence and amount 
of their improvements upon their respective claims in the said granted or indemnity 
limits of the -land grant to the said Northern Pacific Railroad Company the same as 
if made upon the tract to which the transfer is made; and before the Secretary of 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 75 

the Interior shall cause to be prepared and delivered to said railroad grantee or its 
successor in interest any list or lists of the several tracts which have been pur- 
chased or settled upon or occupied as hereinbefore provided, he shall notify the 
purchaser, settler, or claimant, his heirs or assigns, claiming against said railroad 
company, of his right to transfer his entry or claim, as herein provided, and shall 
give him or them option to take lieu lauds for those claimed by him or them or hold 
his claim and allow the said railroad company to do so under the terms of this act. 

Special regulations were approved under this act February 14, 1899, 
and June 3, 1899. (See 28 L. D., 103 and 470.) 

FORFEITED RAILROAD LANDS. 

Attention is called to the provisions of an act of Congress entitled 
"An act to forfeit certain lands heretofore granted for the purpose of 
aiding in the construction of railroads, and for other purposes," ap- 
proved September 29, 1890. (26 Stat. L., 496; Appendix Ko. 40, p. 215.) 

The first section provides for the forfeiture of all lands heretofore 
granted to any State or to any corporation to aid in the construction 
of a railroad opposite to and coterminous with the portion of any such 
railroad not now constructed and in operation, and declares the lands 
forfeited to be a part of the public domain, excepting, however, from 
the forfeiture the right of way and station grounds heretofore granted. 

The second section provides that all persons who, at the date of the 
passage of this act, are actual settlers in good faith on any of the lands 
forfeited, and are otherwise qualified, on making due claim on said lands 
under the homestead law within six months after the passage of this 
act, shall be entitled to a preference right to enter the same under the 
provisions of the homestead law and this act, and shall be regarded as 
actual settlers from the date of actual settlement or occupation. 

It is clear that this clause of the section allows the actual settler, if 
qualified, to make a homestead entry of the tract upon which he had 
made settlement, and this as a preference right to be exercised within 
six months after the passage of the act. 

It is further provided by said section that any person who has not 
heretofore had the benefit of the homestead or preemption law, or who 
has failed from any cause to perfect the title to a tract of land hereto- 
fore entered by him under either of said laws, may make a second 
homestead entry under the provisions of this act. 

The language of this clause of the section authorizing a a second 
homestead entry' 7 refers only to those persons who have heretofore 
made a homestead entry, but failed from any cause to perfect the same. 

In other words, the object of this clause is to allow anyone qualified 
who had not theretofore secured a piece of land under the homestead 
law to obtain a tract of these forfeited lands under that law. 

Applicants under the homestead laws will be required to make oath 
that they have not heretofore secured a piece of land under the home- 
stead law, and if an entry has been made under said law that was not 
for any reason perfected the facts in relation thereto should be fully 
set forth. 

The third section provides that in all cases where persons, being 
citizens of the United States, or who have declared their intentions to 
become such, in accordance with the naturalization laws of the United 
States, are in possession of any of the lands affected by any such grant, 
and hereby resumed by and restored to the United States, under deed, 
written contract with, or license from the State or corporation to which 
such grant was made, or its assignees, executed prior to January first, 
eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, or where persons may have settled 



76 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

said lands with bona fide intent to secure title thereto by purchase from 
the State or corporation, when earned by compliance with the conditions 
or requirements of the granting acts of Congress, they shall be entitled 
to purchase the same from the United States, in quantities not exceed- 
ing three hundred and twenty acres to any one such person, at the rate 
of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, at any time within two 
years from the passage of this act, and on making said payment to 
receive patents therefor ; and where any such person in actual posses- 
sion of any such lands, and having improved the same, prior to the first 
day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, under deed, written con- 
tract, or license as aforesaid, or his assignor, has made partial or full 
payments to said railroad company prior to said date, on account of the 
purchase price of said lands from it, on proof of the amount of such 
payments he shall be entitled to have the same, to the extent and 
amount of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, if so much has 
been paid, and not more, credited to him on account of and as part of 
the purchase price herein provided to be paid the United States for 
said lands, or such persons may elect to abandon their purchases and 
make claim on said lands under the homestead law, and as provided in 
the preceding section of this act. 

Where parties, persons, and corporations, with the permission of 
such States or corporations, or their assigns, are in possession of and 
have made improvements upon any of the lands resumed and restored, 
and are not entitled to enter the same under the provisions of this act, 
such parties, persons, or corporations shall have six months in which 
to remove any growing crops, buildings, and other movable improve- 
ments from said lands. 

By an amendment to the third section by act of January 23, 1896 
(29 Stat., 4), there was added thereto the following : 

Provided, That actual residence upon the lands by persons claiming the right to 
purchase the same shall not be required where such lands have beeu fenced, culti- 
vated, or otherwise improved by such claimants, and such persons shall be permit- 
ted to purchase two or more tracts of such lands by legal subdivisions, whether con- 
tiguous or not, but not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in the aggregate. 

It is provided that the right of purchase granted by this section shall 
not apply to any lands situated in the State of Iowa on which any per- 
son in good faith has made or asserted the right to make a preemption 
or homestead settlement. 

All the roads situated within said State have been constructed, 
except the portion of the Sioux City and St. Paul Railroad between Le 
Mars and Sioux City. 

The grant for this company was made the subject of departmental 
decision of July 26, 1887 (6 L. D., 47), and a portion of the lands south 
of Le Mars was by said decision directed to be restored, but as far as 
the same are opposite unconstructed road they will come under the 
provisions of this act. 

An applicant for purchase, under this section, of lands in Iowa will 
therefore be required to show that no person has in good faith asserted 
the right to make a preemption or homestead settlement upon the land 
sought to be purchased. 

Further provision is made that nothing in this act shall be construed 
as limiting the rights granted to purchasers or settlers by the act of 
March 3, 1887, providing for the adjustment of land grants made by 
Congress to aid in the construction of railroads, nor as in any manner 
affecting any cause of action existing in favor of any purchaser against 
his grantor for breach of any covenants of title. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 77 

The fourth section merely repeals certain sections in acts making 
grants to aid in the construction of certain railroads in so far as said 
sections require the Secretary of the Interior to reserve lands within 
the indemnity limits of such grants. This section did not restore the 
indemnity lands, but removed any obstacle to the restoration by the 
Department, and the restorations were duly made. 

The fifth section provides that if it shall be found that any lands 
heretofore granted to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, and so 
resumed by the United States and restored to the public domain, lie 
north of the line known as the "Harrison line," being a line drawn 
from Wallula, Washington, easterly to the southeast corner of the north- 
east one-fourth of the southeast quarter of section twenty-seven, in 
township seven north, of range thirty-seven east, of the Willamette 
meridian, all persons who had acquired in good faith the title of the 
Northern Pacific Eailroad Company to any portion of said lands prior 
to July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, or who at said date 
were in possession of any portion of said lands or had improved the 
same, claiming the same under written contract with said company, 
executed in good faith, or their heirs or assigns, as the case may be, 
shall be entitled to purchase the lands so acquired, possessed, or im- 
proved, from the United States, at any time prior to the expiration of 
one year after it shall be finally determined that such lands are restored 
to the public domain by the provisions of this act, at the rate of two 
dollars and fifty cents per acre, and to receive patents therefor upon 
proof before the proper land office of the fact of such acquisition, pos- 
session, or improvement, and payment therefor, without limitation as 
to quantity. The time allowed to make purchase under this provision 
has expired. 

This section also confirmed to the city of Portland, in the State of 
Oregon, the right of way and riparian rights theretofore attempted to 
be conveyed to that city by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to 
a strip of land fifty feet in width through certain described sections. 

The sixth section provides that no lands forfeited by this act shall 
inure to the benefit of any State or corporation to which lands may 
have been granted by Congress, except as provided by this act, nor 
shall the act be construed to enlarge the area of land originally covered 
by any such grant, or to confer any right upon any State, corporation, 
or persons to lands which were excepted from such grant. 

Provision is also made against the moiety in conflicting limits of 
grants for a main and branch line, appertaining to unconstructed road 
and forfeited by this act, inuring to the benefit of the completed line. 

Section seven relates specially to the grant to the State of Mississippi 
to aid in the construction of the road known as the Gulf and Ship Island 
Railroad, and upon the condition that said company, within ninety days 
from the passage of this act, shall accept the provisions of this act and 
file with the Secretary of the Interior a valid relinquishment of all said 
company's interest, right, title, and claim in and to all such lands as 
have been sold by the officers of the United States for cash, or with the 
allowance or approval of such officers have been entered in good faith 
under the preemption or homestead laws, or upon which there were 
bona fide preemption or homestead claims on the first day of January, 
eighteen hundred and ninety, arising or asserted by actual occupation 
of the land under color of the laws of the United States, then the for- 
feiture declared in the first section shall not, until one year after the 
passage of this act, apply to or in anywise affect so much and such 
parts of said grant as lie south of a line drawn east and west through 



78 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the point where the Gulf and Ship Island Eailroad may cross the New 
Orleans and Northeastern Railroad in said State. 

Other lands, in lieu of those relinquished south of said point, may be 
selected within the indemnity limits of the original grant, nearest to 
and opposite such part of the line as may be constructed at the date 
of selection. 

Section eight provides that the Mobile and Girard Railroad Company, 
of Alabama, shall be entitled to the quantity of land earned by the 
construction of its road from Girard to Troy, a distance of eighty-four 
miles. And the Secretary of the Interior in making settlement and 
certifying to or for the benefit of the said company the lands earned 
thereby shall include therein all the lands sold, conveyed, or otherwise 
disposed of by said company not to exceed the total amount earned by 
said company as aforesaid. And the title of the purchasers to all such 
lands are hereby confirmed so far as the United States are concerned. 

But such settlement and certification shall not include any lands 
upon which there were bona fide preemptors or homestead claims on the 
first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, arising or asserted 
by actual occupation of the land under color of the laws of the United 
States. 

The right hereby given to the said railroad company is on condition 
that it shall within ninety days from, the passage of this act, by resolu- 
tion of its board of directors, duly accept the provisions of the same 
and file with the Secretary of the Interior a valid relinquishment of all 
said company's interest, right, title, and claim in and to all such lands 
within the limits of its grant as have heretofore been sold by the offi- 
cers of the United States for cash, where the Government still retains 
the purchase money, or with the allowance or approval of such officers 
have been entered in good faith under the preemption or homestead 
laws, or as are claimed under the homestead or preemption laws as 
aforesaid, and the right and title of the persons holding or claiming any 
such lands under such sales or entries are hereby confirmed, and all 
such claims under the preemption or homestead laws may be perfected 
as provided by law. Said company to have the right to select other 
lands as near as practicable to constructed road and within indemnity 
limits in lieu of the lands so relinquished. And the title of the United 
States is hereby relinquished in favor of all persons holding under any 
sales by the local land officers of the lands in the granted limits of the 
Alabama and Florida Railroad grant, where the United States still 
retains the purchase money, but without liability on the part of the 
United States. 

The grant for the Mobile and Girard Company was finally adjusted 
April 24, 1893, the lands to which the company was entitled being 
recertified and the balance restored to entry. 

The roads affected by said act are as follows : 

Wisconsin Central Railroad, between Ashland and Superior City, in 
the State of Wisconsin. 

Northern Pacific Railroad, between Wallula, Wash., and Portland, 
Oreg. Lands restored are in Washington and Oregon. 

Tennessee and Coosa Railroad, entire grant, extending from Gunters 
Landing to Gadsden, State of Alabama. 

Coosa and Chattooga Railroad, entire grant, extending from Gadsden, 
through Chattooga Valley, to Georgia State line. 

Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad, from Jacksonville to Gadsden, 
State of Alabama. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 79 

Ainboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay Railroad, from Jonesville to 
Amboy, in State of Michigan. 

Sioux City and St. Paul Railroad from Le Mars to Sioux City, in 
State of Iowa. 

Mobile and Girard Railroad, from Troy to Mobile, State of Alabama. 

Gulf and Ship Island Railroad, from Brandon, State of Mississippi, 
to a point 20 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico. 

South Pacific Railroad (main line) from Alcalde to Tres Pinos. 

St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad, from St. Anthony, via Minneapolis, 
to Shakopee. 

Southern Minnesota Railroad, from Houston to Rochester. 

In some cases no actual restoration of the lands affected by the act has 
yet been ordered, for the reason that questions are pending, a determi- 
nation of which may affect the amount to be restored. 

By the act of Congress approved February 18, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 764), 
the above act was amended so that the period within which settlers, 
purchasers, and others under the provisions of said act may make 
application to purchase lands forfeited thereby or to make homestead 
entries as therein authorized, shall begin to run from the date of the 
promulgation by the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the 
instructions to the local officers for their direction in the disposition of 
the lands, and not from the date of the passage of said act. 

By act of December 12, 1893 (28 Stat. L., 15 ; Appendix No. 48, p. 230), 
the time allowed for purchase by claimants under section 3 of this act 
was extended to January ], 1897, saving, however, any adverse claims 
that may have attached. 

The time was further extended to January 1, 1899, by act of Febru- 
ary 18, 1897 (29 Stat, 535j Appendix No., 74 p. 246), with the same 
provision for saving adverse claims. 

By departmental regulation of March 31, 1891 (12 L. D., 308), it is 
required that notice of intention to assert the right of purchase accorded 
under section 3, act of September 29, 1890, must be filed in the local 
office by persons claiming such right within sixty days after due pub- 
lication by said office of such regulation. The registers and receivers 
of the local offices have made the publication contemplated. 

Under different dates all withdrawals heretofore ordered of lands 
within the indemnity limits of the several grants made by Congress to 
aid in the construction of railroads have been revoked, and the lands 
not embraced in pending or approved selections have been restored. 

As to lands covered by unapproved selections, applications to make 
filings and entries thereon may be received, noted, and held subject to 
the claim of the company, of which claim the applicant must be dis- 
tinctly informed and memoranda thereof entered upon his papers. 

Whenever such application to file or enter is presented, alleging upon 
sufficient prima facie showing that the land is not from any cause sub- 
ject to the company's right of selection, notice thereof will be given to 
the proper representative of the company, which will be allowed thirty 
days after service of said notice within which to present objections to 
the allowance of said filing or entry. 

Should the company fail to respond or show cause before the district 
land officers why the application should not be allowed, said applica- 
tion for filing or entry will be admitted, and the selection held for 
cancellation ; but should the company appear and show cause an inves- 
tigation will be ordered under the rules of practice to determine whether 
said land is subject to the right of the company to make selection of the 



80 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

same, which will be determined by the register and receiver, subject to 
the right of appeal in either party. 

When appeals are taken from the decision of the register and receiver 
to this office in the class of cases above provided for they will be dis- 
posed of without delay, and if the decision should be in favor of the 
company and no appeal be taken the land will be certified to the Sec- 
retary of the Interior for approval for patent without requiring further 
action on the part of the company except the payment of the required 
fees. If the decision should be adverse to the company and no appeal 
be taken, the selection will be canceled and the filing or entry allowed, 
subject to compliance with law. 

Lands which have not been selected are subject to settlement and 
entry as other public lands, and notice to the company will not be 
required. 

DISPOSAL OF ABANDONED MILITARY RESERVATIONS. 

Formerly military reservations which were no longer needed for mili- 
tary purposes were transferred to the Interior Department by the War 
Department only under special acts which provided for the transfer and 
disposal of the particular reservations named in the several acts. 

By the act of August 18, 1856 (11 Stat. L., 87), provision was made for 
the disposal of the abandoned military reservations in the State of 
Florida. The act of July 5, 1884 (23 Stat. L., 103), repealed the said act 
of August 18, 1856, and made provisions for the transfer and disposal 
of abandoned military reservations generally. The provisions of said 
act of July 5, 1884, permit the appraisal and public sale of such land 
after sixty days' public notice of the time, place, and terms of sale. 
The lands are required to be sold for cash to the highest bidder at not 
less than the appraised value nor less than $1.25 per acre. If the lands 
are not sold at the first offering they may be reoffered at any subse- 
quent time in the same manner, after which they may be sold for cash 
at private sale at not less than the appraised value nor less than $1.25 
per acre. 

The improvements belonging to the Government on such lands may, 
after appraisal, be sold with the tracts upon which they are situated, 
or they may be sold separately at public sale to the highest bidder for 
cash, at not less than the appraised value, to be removed by the pur- 
chaser within such time as may be prescribed. 

Where the improvements were sold by the Government prior to the 
passage of the act of July 5, 1884, the purchaser thereof has the pref- 
erence right for sixty days to purchase, at the appraised value, the 
land containing such improvements, not exceeding the smallest sub- 
division or lot provided for by the act. 

It is further provided that any of such lands containing valuable 
mineral deposits shall be disposed of exclusively under the mineral- 
land laws. 

Provision is also made that any settler, who was in actual occupation 
of any portion of any such reservation prior to the location of such 
reservation, or who settled thereon prior to January 1, 1884, in good 
faith for the purpose of securing a home and of entering the same 
under the general laws, and continued in such occupation to the date 
of the act, if entitled by law to make a homestead entry, may enter 
the land so occupied, not exceeding 160 acres in a body, according to 
the Government surveys and subdivisions, provided that said lands 
were subject to entry under the public-land laws at the time of their 
withdrawal. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 81 

The act of August 23, 1894 (28 Stat, L., 491; Appendix No. 57, p. 235), 
made further provision for the disposal of abandoned military reserva- 
tions, and the scope of said act was extended by the amendatory act 
of February 15, 1895 (28 Stat L., 664; Appendix No. 62, p. 238). 

The first section of the former act opens to settlement under the 
public-land laws of the United States all lands not already disposed of 
in any abandoned military reservation theretofore placed under the con- 
trol of the Secretary of the Interior for disposal under the act of July 
5, 1884, the disposal of which has not been provided for by subsequent 
act of Congress, where the area exceeds 5,000 acres; such legal subdi- 
visions as have Government improvements thereon, and such other 
parts as are now or may be hereafter reserved for some public use, 
being excepted. It also gives a preference right of entry for a period 
of six months from the date of the act to bona fide settlers who are 
qualified to enter under the homestead law and have made improve- 
ments, and were at date of said act residing upon any agricultural 
lands in such reservations, and also for a period of six months from the 
date of settlement when that shall occur after the date of this act. It 
also provides that persons who make homestead entries for such lands 
shall pay not less than the value heretofore or hereafter determined by 
appraisement, nor less than the price of the land at the time of entry, 
and that such payment may be made, at the option of the purchaser, 
in five equal installments, at times and at rates of interest to be fixed 
by the Secretary of the Interior. 

The second section refers to lands thereafter to be placed under the 
control of the Secretary of the Interior, and provides for the manner of 
appraisements. 

Under the terms of this act settlement may be made on any of these 
reservations to which the terms of the first section apply, whether sur- 
veyed or not, where the area exceeds 5,000 acres. Where the lands in 
such reservations have been surveyed and the triplicate plats filed in 
the district land office, the register and receiver will allow homestead 
entries to go to record therefor, if the en try men are duly qualified to 
make entry, as in the case of other surveyed public lands. But where 
entry is made under this act, the entryman will be required to pay for 
the lands at the value heretofore or hereafter determined by appraise- 
ment, and the payments may be made, at the option of the purchaser, 
in five equal installments, at times and at rates of interest to be fixed 
by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Appraisements of such lands will be ordered by the Secretary of the 
Interior at such times as the public interests demand, and to the extent 
permissible under the appropriations made or to be made by Congress 
for this purpose. 

In some instances instructions have been issued to the district land 
officers to allow homestead entries, under the act of July 5, 1884, where 
the lands have been surveyed, in abandoned military reservations the 
area of which exceeds 5,000 acres. Such of these lands as have not 
been entered under said act of July 5, 1884, are now subject to the pro- 
visions of the act of August 23, 1894, but this latter act does not apply 
to any abandoned military reservations whose area is 5,000 acres or 
less ; and settlement, except as provided by said act of July 5, 1884, on 
any such reservations will not confer any rights upon the settlers. 

It will be observed that this act grants a preference right of entry for 
a period of six months from its date to all bona fide settlers who are 
qualified to enter under the homestead law and have made improve- 
ments and are now residing upon any agricultural lands in said reser- 
3073 6 



82 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

vations, and also for a period, of six months from the date of settlement 
when that shall occur after the date of this act. Where the lands have 
been surveyed, there will be no difficulty in the operations of this pro- 
vision of law, but in cases in which the lands have not been surveyed 
the equitable construction of this act seems to be that the preference 
right of entry shall extend to a period of six months from the date of 
the filing of the triplicate plats of surveys in the district land office. 

Definite instructions as to the price of the land, the dates of pay- 
ments, and the rates of interest to be paid thereon will be issued in 
relation to each reservation when the appraisement thereof shall have 
been made aud approved. 

The amendatory act extends the provisions of the act of August 23, 
1894, " to all abandoned military reservations which were placed 'under 
the control of the Secretary of the Interior under any law in force prior 
to the act of July 5, 1884," and provides that the preference right of 
entry given to actual settlers by the act amended shall, as to the lands 
to which the provisions of said act are extended, take effect and con- 
tinue for six months from the date of the amendatory act. 

SALINE LANDS RESERVED UNDER GENERAL LAWS. 

Congress passed an act January 12, 1877 (19 Stat. L., 221; Appendix 
No. 3, p. 163), for the sale of saline or salt-spring lands in certain States. 
This act has exclusive reference to that class of lands which at an 
early period were segregated from the public lands on account of salt 
springs and reserved from disposal under general laws, and which, 
therefore, to use the language of the statute, were " incapable of being 
purchased under any of the laws of the United States relative to the 
public domain." (See decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
States in the case of Morton v. Nebraska, 21 Wallace, 660.) These 
lands never were subject to the operation of the homestead and preemp- 
tion laws, nor of any other law for the disposal of the public lands, 
except the act of January 12, 1877, above referred to. (See Public 
Domain, p. 217.) That act provides for the disposal of such lands in a 
certain contingency at private sale, and, being special in character and 
of particular application, is not repealed or modified by the general 
provisions of the act of March 2, 1889, "to withdraw certain public 
lands from private entry" (25 Stat. L., 854; Appendix No. 32, p. 187; 
second paragraph circular of March 8, 1889, 8 L. D., 314). 

DETERMINATION OF THE CHARACTER OF THE LANDS. 

Should prima facie evidence that certain tracts are saline in character 
be filed with the register and receiver of the proper land district, they 
will designate a time for a hearing at their office and give notice to all 
parties in interest, in order that they may have ample opportunity to 
be present with their witnesses. Such witnesses will be examined in 
regard to the saline character of the given tracts and whether the same 
are claimed by any person; if so, the names of the claimants and the 
extent of their improvements must be shown. 

The witnesses should be thoroughly examined as to the true charac- 
ter of the land in other respects — its agricultural capacities ; what kind 
of crops, if any, have been raised thereon or can be raised from land of 
such character; whether it contains any valuable deposit of mineral 
of any kind or of coal. In short, the testimony should be as complete 
as possible, and in addition to the points indicated above everything of 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 83 

importance bearing upon the character of the land should be elicited 
at the hearing. 

The testimony taken at the hearing will be transmitted to the General 
Land Office by the register and receiver, with their opinion thereon. 
When the case comes before the General Land Office such a decision 
will be rendered in regard to the character of the land as the facts may 
warrant 

DISPOSAL OF SALINE LANDS. 

Should the tracts be adjudged saline lands, the register and receiver 
will be instructed to offer the same for sale, after public notice, at the 
local land office of the district in which the same shall be situated and 
to sell said tract or tracts to the highest bidder for cash at a price not 
less than $1.25 per acre. 

In case said lauds should not be sold when so offered, they will be 
subject to private sale for cash at a price not less than $1.25 per acre 
in the same manner as other public lands are sold at private sale. 

Should the tract in question be adjudged agricultural or mineral, it 
will be subject to disposal as such. 

The provisions of this act do not apply to any lands within the Ter- 
ritories, nor to any within the States of Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, 
California, or Nevada, none of which has had a grant of salines by act 
of Congress; nor do they apply to the States of Idaho, North Dakota, 
South Dakota, Montana, Washington, or Wyoming, none of which has 
had an express grant of saline lands, although each has had a grant 
declared to be in lieu of saline and other special grants. 

GENERAL RULES APPLICABLE TO DIFFERENT CLASSES OF 

ENTRIES. 

1. Applicants to make entries and claimants and witnesses making 
final proof must in all cases state their place of actual residence, their 
business or occupation, and their post-office address. It is not sufficient 
to name the county and State or Territory where a party lives, but the 
town or city must be named, and, if residence is in a city, the street and 
number must be given. The register and receiver will note the post- 
office address in their tract book. 

2. W^here the residence of a party or witness is on surveyed land the 
subdivision, section, township, and range must be stated in every 
case. 

3. Notice by registered letter, directed to claimant's last-known post- 
office address, is the prescribed means of giving legal notice to him of 
official action taken in respect to his entry, either before or after proof 
(circular approved October 28, 1886, 5 L. D., 204). Claimants and entry- 
men should therefore give prompt notice to the register and receiver of 
any change of residence or post-office address. (See Rules of Practice 
11, 14, and 17, as amended May 26, 1898.) 

PUBLICATION OF NOTICE OF FINAL PROOF. 

4. Any claimant desiring to make final proof of having complied with 
the provisions of law in respect to residence, cultivation, or improve- 
ment must first file with the register of the proper land office a written 
notice of his intention to do so, which notice must be transmitted by 
the register and receiver to this office, with the proof. The notice must 
describe the land claimed, and the claimant must give the names and 



84 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

residences of the witnesses by whom the necessary facts as to settle- 
ment, residence, cultivation, etc., are to be established. He must also 
state the day when, the place where, and the officer before whom the 
proof is to be taken. 

5. The filing of notice of intention to make proof must be accompa- 
nied by a deposit of sufficient money to pay the cost of publishing the 
notice to be given by the register, the deposit to be made with the 
receiver, who will notify the register thereof, that he may cause the notice 
to be published, but settlers are not to be deprived of the right to make 
their own contracts for publishing notices of intention to make final 
proof and to make payment therefor directly to the publishers of the 
paper, after the notice has been prepared by the register and the paper 
designated by him, on presenting to the register a statement from the 
publisher or his agent that the money for the payment of said notice 
has been paid to or deposited Avith said publisher. 

6. Upon the filing of the notice by the applicant the register will pub- 
lish a notice that such application has been made, once each week for a 
period of thirty days, in a newspaper which he shall designate by an 
order written on said application, aspublished nearest the land described 
in the application, and he shall also post said notice in some conspicuous 
place in his office for the same period. If published in a weekly paper 
a compliance with the law will require the notice to be published weekly 
five successive weeks, the day fixed for the submission of the final proof 
to be at least thirty days after the first publication. 

7. The notice to be given by the register must state that application 
to make final proof has been filed; the name of the applicant; the kind 
of entry, whether homestead, preemption, or other ; a description of the 
land and the names and residences of the witnesses as stated in the 
application ; also the day when, the place where, and the officer before 
whom the proof is to be taken. (See Form 4-347, p. 277.) 

8. To save expense, the register may embrace two or more cases in 
one publication, when it can be done consistently with the legal require- 
ments of publication in a newspaper published nearest the land, as per 
Form 4-347, p. 277. 

9. Publishers should cause each proof notice to be carefully compared 
by copy, and should send at least one copy of the paper containing the 
notice to the party in interest. This course will avoid errors or secure 
their correction in proper time. 

10. Proof of publication will be the affidavit of the publisher or fore- 
man of the newspaper employed that the notice (a copy of which notice 
must be annexed to the affidavit) was published in said newspaper once 
a week (if a weekly paper) for five successive weeks, or for thirty days 
in a daily paper, as the case may be. Such affidavit must show that 
the notice was published in the regular and entire issue of every num- 
ber of the paper during the period and time of publication, and that 
the notice was published in the newspaper proper and not in a supple- 
ment. Affidavits of publication not in conformity with these require- 
ments will be rejected by the register and receiver. 

11. Proof of posting notice in the district land office will be the cer- 
tificate of the register that the notice of the application (a copy of which 
should be annexed to the certificate) was posted by him in a conspicu- 
ous place in his office for a period of thirty days. (Form 4-227, p. 277.) 

12. The proof of the publication and posting of the notice must be 
filed and preserved by the register, to be forwarded to the General 
Land Office with the final papers when issued. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 85 

13. Proof should in every case be made at the time and place adver- 
tised, and before the officer named in the notice. On the day adver- 
tised the officer named in the notice shall call the case for hearing, and 
should the claimant fail to appear the officer should continue the case 
until the next day, and on that day or on any succeeding day, should 
the claimant fail to appear, proceed in like manner until the expiration 
of ten days from the day advertised, after which the proof, if presented, 
should not be received. Proper notice should be given of the contin- 
uances, made in the most effective way the circumstances admit of, to 
any parties interested. Parties proposing to cross-examine claimant's 
witnesses or submit rebutting testimony will be allowed to do so on the 
day advertised, in case of the appearance of the claimant and his proof 
being made on that day. In case of his nonappearance protests or 
affidavits of contest may be filed, and if a sufficient ground of objection 
is set forth therein the protestant, adverse claimant, or contestant may 
appear at any subsequent day to which the case may be adjourned, 
with the same rights of cross-examination and of submitting rebutting 
testimony as if the appearance had been made on the day advertised, 
should he so elect, and if he should not do so, the register and receiver 
of the proper district land office will take measures to secure the prot- 
estant, contestant, or adverse claimant an opportunity to be heard, on 
the grounds of objection presented after due notice to all parties accord- 
ing to rules of practice before allowing final entry to be made; and the 
appearance of the protestant or adverse claimant, or filing of protest or 
contest affidavit, on the day advertised, or on any day to which the 
case may be continued as above, will suffice to protect their rights in 
the premises as fully as though both parties had appeared and the proof 
been taken on the day advertised. The proceedings had should be duly 
docketed and be made to appear by proper entries on the proof papers 
to which any protest or contest affidavit filed should be attached, by 
the officer named in the notice. The witnesses to the proofs must be 
two of the persons named as witnesses in the notices. Other persons 
can not be substituted as witnesses without readvertisement. 

Section 7, act of March 2, 1889, legalizes proof taken within ten days 
following the date advertised, where unavoidable delay prevents compli- 
ance with the notice. (10 L. D., 301, 397.) 

There is no law or rule of the Department that warrants the local 
officers in extending the time for taking final proof beyond ten days 
from the time set therefor in the advertisement. (20 L. D., 343.) 

DUTIES OF ATTESTING OFFICERS. 

14. When proof is made before the proper United States commis- 
sioner, judge, or clerk of court (as the case may be), the affidavits and 
testimony must be duly authenticated and transmitted to the register 
and receiver, together with the "fee and charges" allowed by law to 
them. There may be transmitted therewith the fees and commissions, 
if any, legally payable on the entry at the time of making final proof, 
and in addition thereto in homestead and timber- culture entries under 
acts of March 3, 1877 (19 Stat. L., 403 ; Appendix No. 5, p. 165), and 
March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1095; Appendix No. 44, p. 221), the legal fee 
for "examining and approving" the testimony, which is 15 cents, or in 
the Pacific States and Territories, 22 J cents, for each 100 written words. 
Printed words are not to be counted. 

15. When the land is within an unorganized county, the fact that the 
county in which the land lies is unorganized and that the county in 



86 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

which the proof is made is adjacent thereto must be certified by the 
attesting officer. 

16. Attesting officers must sign in their true official capacity. If 
proof is taken by a judge in his capacity as clerk of his own court he 
should sign as u ex officio clerk." 

17. Eegisters and receivers, judges and clerks of courts, and other 
officers taking proofs are enjoined to use the utmost strictness in the 
examination of parties and witnesses, and to obtain full, specific, and 
unevasive answers to all the questions propounded, and all necessary 
oral cross-examinations will be made by attesting officers to further 
attest the good faith of claimants and the reliability of the testimony 
of claimants and witnesses. Officers will certify to their oral cross- 
examinations. 

18. Eegisters and receivers will carefully examine all proofs trans- 
mitted to them by other officers, and will not issue certificates nor place 
entries on record, nor transmit the proofs to this office until the same 
have been thus examined. Defective, insufficient, or unsatisfactory 
proofs will be rejected and new proof required. 

19. Proofs taken by other officers than registers and receivers must 
be immediately transmitted to the register and receiver and the money 
paid to the latter. When any interval of time, other than that required 
for immediate and expeditious transmittal, elapses between the date of 
proof and date of its receipt, with the money, at the district land office, 
a new affidavit, duly corroborated, showing nonalienation and contin- 
ued residence, covering date of receipt of proof and payment by the 
register and receiver, will be required before certificate is issued or the 
entry placed of record. 

Proof without payment must in no case be accepted or received by 
registers and receivers. If, however, this should occur by inadvertence 
in any case, additional evidence as above should be at once required of 
the claimant before allowing entry. 

All discrepancies between date of proof and date of register's cer- 
tificate and receiver's receipt must be accounted for by certificate from 
the register and receiver attached to each case. 

20. As settlers on un surveyed lands are allowed three months after 
the filing of the township plat of survey within which to put their 
claims on record, no final proof on homestead or preemption entries 
should be permitted until after the expiration of said three months. 

VACANCY IN OFFICE OF REGISTER OR RECEIVER. 

21. By the act of Congress approved October 1, 1890 (26 Stat, L., 657), 
it is provided that in cases before any of the land offices of the United 
States in which a vacancy exists in either the office of register or receiver, 
" where the day set for hearing final proofs came during the vacancy in 
said office, and there is no contest or protest against said claim, and 
where the remaining officer has taken said proofs and reduced the same 
to writing, the same may be passed upon by the register and receiver 
as if the same had been taken when there was no vacancy ; " also that 
"when a vacancy shall occur in any of the land offices of the United 
States by reason of the death, resignation, or removal of either the 
register or receiver, and the time set for taking final proofs falls within 
the vacancy thus caused, the remaining officer may proceed to take said 
final proofs, in the absence of any contest or protest, reduce the same 
to writing, and place it on file in the office, to be considered and passed 
upon when the vacancy is filled." 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 87 

Upon the occurrence of a vacancy for any reason in the office of reg- 
ister or receiver at any of the district land offices, all business requiring 
the action of both officers must await the filling of the vacancy; and, 
while the office is kept open for the purpose of furnishing general infor- 
mation, no action can be taken upon applications to contest or enter 
lands in that district. 

Applications to contest entries or to enter lands and all other appli- 
cations requiring joint action of both officers which may be presented 
during the vacancy in the local office will be received, the time of 
presentation noted thereon, and upon the resumption of business such 
applications will be disposed of in their order. 

NOTICE OF FILING PLATS. 

22. Hereafter, when an approved plat of the survey of any township 
is transmitted to the register and receiver by the surveyor- general they 
will not regard such plat as officially received and filed in their office 
until the following regulations have been complied with: 

(1) They will forthwith post a notice in a conspicuous place in their 
office, specifying the township that has been surveyed and stating that 
the plat of survey will be filed in their office on a day to be fixed by 
them and named in the notice, which shall not be less than thirty days 
from the date of such notice, and that on and after such day they 
will be prepared to receive applications for the entry of lands in such 
township. 

(2) They will also send a copy of such notice to the postmasters of the 
post-offices nearest the land and a copy to each clerk of a court of 
record in their district, with request that the same be conspicuously 
posted in their respective offices. 

(3) They will furnish the public press in their district with copies of 
such notice as a matter of news. 

(4) They will give such further publicity of the matter in answer to 
inquiries (for which they will charge no fee) and otherwise as they may 
be able to do without incurring advertising expenses. (Circular of 
October 21, 1885, 4 L. D., 202.) 

CITIZENSHIP AND NATURALIZATION. 

23. Parties should in all cases of application to make entry and in 
final proof state distinctly whether they are native-born or naturalized 
citizens. If naturalized, evidence of naturalization should be filed with 
the original entry application. If not naturalized, evidence of declara- 
tion of intention should be filed at the time the first entry or application 
is made. 

The certification of naturalization papers or other court records should 
be received only when made under the hand and seal of the clerk of the 
court in which such papers appear of record, but where a judicial record 
is shown to have existed and is now lost or destroyed proof of the same 
may be made by secondary evidence, in accordance with the rules of 
evidence governing such proof. 

AFFIDAVIT AS TO NONMINERAL CHARACTER OF LAND. 

24. In all entries of nonmineral lands in the States of Arkansas, 
California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, 
Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, and the Ter- 
ritories of Arizona and New Mexico, a nonmineral affidavit is required. 
(Form 4-062, p. 299.) 



88 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

CONTIGUITY OF LANDS. 

25. Entries of public lands, if surveyed, must be made by legal sub- 
divisions according to the public surveys, and if different tracts are 
taken to make up the full quantity allowed or intended to be entered 
in preemption, homestead, timber-culture, and other classes of entries 
the tracts must be contiguous to each other, so as to form one body 
of land. 

LANDS IN THE POSSESSION OF INDIAN OCCUPANTS. 

26. JSTo entries will be allowed npon lands in the possession, occupa- 
tion, and use of Indian inhabitants, or covered by their homes and 
improvements; and registers and receivers are required to exercise 
every care and precaution to prevent the inadvertent allowance of any 
such entries. It is presumed that they know or can ascertain the 
localities of Indian possession and occupancy in their respective dis- 
tricts, and it is their duty to do so, and to avail themselves of all infor- 
mation furnished by officers of the Indian service. (Circular of October 
26, 1887, 6 L. D., 341.) 

RESTRICTION ON THE ACQUISITION OF TITLE TO AGRICULTURAL 

PUBLIC LAND. 

Attention is called to the following portion of an act of Congress of 
August 30, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 391), making appropriations for the fiscal 
year ended June 30, 1891, viz : 

For topographic surveys in various portions of the United States, three hundred 
and twenty-five thousand dollars, one-half of which sum shall he expended west of 
the one hundredth meridian ; and so much of the act of October second, eighteen 
hundred and eighty-eight, entitled "An act making appropriations for sundry civil 
expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hun- 
dred and eighty-nine, and for other purposes," as provides for the withdrawal of the 
public lands from entry, occupation, and settlement, is hereby repealed, and all 
entries made or claims initiated in good faith and valid but for said act, shall be 
recognized and may be perfected iu the same manner as if said law had not been 
enacted, except tbat reservoir sites heretofore located or selected shall remain segre- 
gated and reserved from entry or settlement as provided by said act, until otherwise 
provided by law, and reservoir sites hereafter located or selected on public lands 
shall in like manner be reserved from the date of the location or selection thereof. 

No person who shall, after the passage of this act, enter upon any of the public 
lands with a ^ T iew to occupation, entry, or settlement under any of the land laws shall 
be permitted to acquire title to more than three hundred and twenty acres in the 
aggregate, under all of said laws, but this limitation shall not operate to curtail the 
right of any person who has heretofore made entry or settlement on the public lands, 
or whose occupation, entry, or settlement is validated by this act : Provided, That 
in all patents for lands hereafter taken up under any of the land laws of the United 
States or on entries or claims validated by this act, west of the one hundredth 
meridian, it shall be expressed that there is reserved from the lands in said patent 
described a right of way thereon for ditches or canals constructed by the authority 
of the United States. 

See also seventeenth section, act of March 3, 1891. (26 Stat. L., 1095; 
Appendix No. 44, p. 221.) 

It will be seen that the acquisition of title under the agricultural 
land laws by any person is restricted to 320 acres in the aggregate, 
with a qualification protecting rights of prior inception. 

In view of this legislation, all applicants to file or enter under any 
of the land laws of the United States will be required to make affi- 
davit showing that since August 30, 1890, they had not filed upon or 
entered under said laws a quantity of land which would make, with 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 89 

the tracts applied for, more than 320 acres. Or, if the party should 
claim by virtue of the exception as to settlers prior to the act of August 
30, 1890, the affidavit required should show the facts in reference to 
such settlemeut. (See Form4-102b, p. 272; also circular of September 
5, 1890, 11 L. D., p. 296.) 

The maximum of 320 acres above limited is exclusive of any lands 
entered prior to the passage of said act of August 30, 1890, and exclu- 
sive of mineral lands entered prior or subsequent thereto ''see Secre- 
tary's decision of December 29, 1890 — 12 L. D., 81, and seventeenth sec- 
tion of the act of March 3, 1891—26 Stat. L., 1095; Appendix No. 44, 
p. 221), and the prescribed affidavit may be modified accordingly, as it 
regards mineral lands. 

CONFIRMATIONS BY THE SEVENTH SECTION OF THE ACT OF 

MARCH 3, 1891. 

The seventh section of the act entitled "An act to repeal timber- 
culture laws, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 
L., 1095), reads as follows, viz: 

That whenever it shall appear to the Commissioner of the General Land Office that 
a clerical error has been committed in the entry of the public lands such entry may 
he suspended upon proper notification to the claimant through the local land office 
until the error has been corrected; and all entries made under the preemption, 
homestead, desert-land, or timber-culture laws, in which iinal proof and payment 
may have been made and certificates issued, and to which there are no adverse claims 
originating prior to final entry and which have been sold or incumbered prior to the 
first day of March, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, and after final entry to bona 
fide purchasers, or incumbrancers, for a valuable consideration, shall, unless upon 
an investigation by a Government agent, fraud on the part of the purchaser has been 
found, be confirmed and patented upon presentation of satisfactory proof to the 
land department of such sale or incumbrance : Provided, That after the lapse of two 
years from the date of the issuance of the receiver's receipt upon the final entry of 
any tract of land under the homestead, timber-culture, desert-land, or preemption 
laws, or under this act, and when there shall be no pending contest or protest against 
the validity of such entry, the entryman shall be entitled to a patent conveying the 
land by him entered, and the same shall be issued to him ; but this proviso shall not 
be construed to require the delay of two years from the date of said entry before 
the issuing of a patent therefor. 

Under this section, whenever a clerical error is discovered in any 
entry of the public lands which can not be accurately corrected by ref- 
erence to the files, plats, and records of the General Land Office, such 
entry will be suspended upon notice to the claimant, and so remain 
until such error shall have been corrected. 

The first class of entries confirmed by this section are those hereto- 
fore made, and with the additional conditions that there was a sale or 
incumbrance of the land prior to March 1, 1888, and after the issuance 
of final certificate to bona fide purchasers or incumbrancers, and that 
there is no adverse claim originating prior to final entry. 

As to this class of entries it must be shown that no adverse claim 
exists that originated prior to final entry, and this will be usually 
determined by the records of the local and General Land Offices. The 
sale or incumbrance must be shown and all conveyances necessary to 
connect the present claimant of the land with the original entryman, 
by means of the original deeds, certified copies thereof, or a duly cer- 
tified abstract of the proper records, together with satisfactory evi- 
dence that the incumbrance has not been discharged or that the land 
has not been reconveyed to the entryman. The bona fides of the sale 
or incumbrance must appear to the satisfaction of the officers of the 
Government. 



90 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

The proviso to said section affects not only entries made prior to the 
passage of said act, but also those made and to be made subsequently 
thereto, and, as to this latter class, may be said to be a statute of limi- 
tations. All entries against which contests or protests by individuals 
were pending at the date of the passage of said act are held to have 
been excepted from the confirmatory provisions of this proviso, and 
such contests and protests will be considered and disposed of as if such 
section had not been passed. Where the period of two years from the 
date of the receiver's receipt expires after the passage of said act a 
contest or protest to be effective to prevent the confirmation of such 
entry must have been initiated within such period. 

As to the effect of the proviso of this section upon proceedings insti- 
tuted by the Government, it is sufficient for the purposes of this circu- 
lar to say that such proceedings as have been or shall be begun within 
two years from the date of the receiver's receipt on final entry are not 
affected by said proviso, but will be continued to a final determination 
of the questions involved, and that such proceedings to be effective to 
take the entry attacked out of the operation of said proviso must have 
been begun within the said period. 

It is not thought proper in this circular to enter into details or attempt 
to lay down rules to govern all questions that may arise in the admin- 
istration of this section, and for such information reference may be had 
to the decisions of the Department. 

AMENDMENTS OF APPLICATIONS AND ENTRIES. 

Applications to amend filings or entries must be filed with the regis- 
ter and receiver, and by them transmitted for the consideration of the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office. Eegisters and receivers will 
not change an entry or filing so as to describe another tract, or change 
a date after the same has been recorded. 

A party who alleges a mistake in the description of his filing or entry 
and desires to amend or change the same so as to describe another tract 
may do so in the manner herein prescribed. 

He must file with the register and receiver a statement under oath, 
corroborated by at least two witnesses, or sustained by strong corrob- 
orating facts and circumstances, showing the nature of the alleged mis- 
take and how the same occurred, and that every reasonable precaution 
and exertion had been made to avoid the error, and that he has not 
sold, assigned, transferred, or relinquished his alleged erroneous filing 
or entry, or his claim to the land described therein, nor agreed to do so. 

He must show that the error did not result from want of a personal 
examination of the land by himself before making his filing or entry, 
and must state the date when he first examined the land he desired to 
enter and the date he commenced his settlement or improvements 
thereon, if any, and the character, extent, and value of any such 
improvements, and how he learned that the alleged error in description 
had been made. 

The register and receiver must investigate the facts and transmit 
the evidence submitted to them in each case to the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office, together with their written opinion both as 
to the existence of the mistake and the credibility of each person tes- 
tifying thereto and their recommendation in the matter. (8 L. D., 187.) 

In case of an application for an entry being returned to the district 
land office for amendment, the register and receiver should write across 
the face thereof, " Amended to [here inserting the proper description] 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 91 

as per Commissioner's letter of [here giving initial- and date]." This 
notation must be signed by the entryman, after which the register and 
receiver will attest the same over their signatures and return the appli- 
cation to this office. (13 0. L. O., 205.) 

RELINQUISHMENTS. 

The first section of the act of May 14, 1880 (Appendix No. 15, p. 174), 
provides that when a preemption, homestead, or timber-culture claim- 
ant shall file a written relinquishment of his claim in the land office, 
the land covered by such claim shall be held as open to settlement and 
entry without further action on the part of the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office. 

The register will note on each relinquishment, over his signature, 
the day aud hour of its receipt, and will write the words "canceled by 
relinquishment" (giving date) opposite the record of the entry in the 
tract book, the register of entries, and the register of receipts, and will 
draw a line over the number of the entry on the township plat. 

On Monday of each week the register and receiver are directed to 
transmit to this office all the relinquishments accepted by them the pre- 
ceding week, classifying the same in their letter of transmittal by class 
of entry so transmitted. 

Eelinquishments run to the United States alone, and no person 
obtains any right to the land by the mere purchase of a relinquish- 
ment of a filing or entry. 

Entries and filings made for the purpose of holding the land for spec- 
ulation and the sale of relinquishments are illegal and fraudulent, and 
every effort in the power of the Government will be exerted to prevent 
such frauds and to detect and punish the perpetrators. 

Purchasers of relinquishments of fraudulent filings or entries should 
understand that they purchase at their own risk so far as the United 
States is concerned, and must seek their own remedies under local laws 
against those who, by imposing such relinquishments upon them, have 
obtained their money without valuable consideration. 

CONTESTS. 

Any person may contest an entry, location, or selection made under 
any law of the United States, for any sufficient cause affecting the 
legality or validity of the same. 

Applications to contest must be filed with the register and receiver. 

An affidavit is required in each case, setting forth the facts which 
constitute the grounds of contest. This affidavit should be corrobo- 
rated by the affidavits of one or more witnesses in cases where an entry 
has been allowed and remains of record. Contest affidavits may be 
made before any officer authorized to administer oaths. 

A person who contests and secures the cancellation of any entry of 
record has a preference right for thirty days from receipt of notice of 
such cancellation in which to enter the land formerly covered by the 
contested entry, and during such period of thirty days the said land 
will be reserved from entry by any other person, though applications to 
enter made by other persons must, if presented, be received and held 
to await the expiration of the successful contestant's preference right, 
after which such intervening applications will be acted upon in the 
order in which they have been received. 



92 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Where an entry exists that is prima facie valid and an appropriation 
of the land, no application to enter will be received for another entry 
of the land nntil the existing entry is vacated by regular proceedings, 
except in cases of contests under the third section of the timber-culture 
act of June 14, 1878. 

No application will be received, or any rights recognized as initiated 
by the tender of an application for a tract embraced in an entry of 
record until said entry has been canceled upon the records of the local 
office. Thereafter, and until the period accorded a successful contest- 
ant has expired, or he has waived his preferred right, applications may 
be received, entered, and held subject to the rights of the contestant, 
the same to be disposed of in the order of filing upon the expiration 
of the period accorded the successful contestant or upon the filing of 
his waiver of his preferred right. 

If a contest is brought against the heirs of a deceased entryman, the 
affidavit of contest must state the names of all known heirs, and the 
notice of hearing must be served on each heir. If the person to be 
served is an infant under 14 years of age, or is of unsound mind, serv- 
ice of notice shall be made by delivering a copy of the notice to the 
statutory guardian or committee of such infant or person of unsound 
mind, if there be one, and if there be none, then to the person having 
such infant or person of unsound mind in charge. (19 L. D., 45.) 

It is provided by the amendatory act of Congress approved July 26, 
1892 (27 Stat. L., 270 ; Appendix No. 45, p. 228), that should any person 
who has initiated a contest die before the final termination of the same, 
said contest shall not abate by reason thereof, but his heirs who are 
citizens of the United States may continue the prosecution of such 
contest and be entitled to the same rights that contestant would have 
been if his death had not occurred. In any case, when the death of 
the contestant is suggested upon the record, his heirs who are citizens 
of the United States will in all subsequent proceedings be treated as 
parties to the case, provided the death of contestant occurred subse- 
quent to the passage of said act of July 26, 1892. 

It is held by the Supreme Court of the United States (Bernier v. 
Bernier, 147 U. S., 242) that upon the death of a homesteader who leaves 
no widow, but both adult and minor heirs, all rights under the entry 
pass to all the heirs equally and not to the minor heirs exclusively, as 
formerly held by the Department. In case of a contest under such 
circumstances, therefore, all the heirs must be served with notice of 
such contest. 

Where leave of absence is granted to a homestead entryman, contest 
for abandonment can not be brought until six months from the expira- 
tion of such leave have elapsed, unless fraud in procuring the leave of 
absence is charged. (Hiltner v. Wortler, 18 L. D., 331.) 

No homestead, timber- culture, desert land, or preemption entry can 
be contested after the lapse of two years from the date when final cer- 
tificate has issued thereon. (Sec. 7 of act March 3, 1891, 26 Stat. L., 
1095.) 

When a contest has been closed before the local land officers and their 
report forwarded to the General Land Office, no additional evidence 
will be admitted in the case, unless offered under stipulation of the 
parties to the record, except where such evidence is presented as the 
basis of a motion for a new trial or in support of a mineral application 
or protest (rule 72 of Rules of Practice), and neither arguments, motions, 
letters containing ex parte statements relative to the case, nor even 
appeals can be considered unless they bear evidence of having been 
duly served upon the adverse party or parties in interest. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 93 

When, pending a contest, a relinquishment of his entry is filed by the 
defendant, the register and receiver should accept the relinquishment 
as the result of the contest and, canceling the entry thereupon, give 
proper notice to the contestant, and proceed, as regards the disposing of 
tlie land, as indicated in the above, according to the nature of the case, 
whether brought under the third section, act of June 14, 1878, with appli- 
cation to enter, or otherwise; but inquiry may be properly entertained 
on the allegation that the relinquishment was in fact an independent 
transaction and not the result of the contest, independent of the time 
when the relinquishment is filed, being before or after the hearing. 

Contests of homestead entries on ground of abandonment can not be 
brought until after the expiration of six months from date of entry. 

Contests of timber-culture entries on ground of noncompliance with 
law can not be brought until after the expiration of the year in which 
it is alleged the failure occurred. 

Contests of desert-land entries on the ground of failure to irrigate 
and reclaim the laud can not be brought against entries made since 
March 3, 1891, until after four years from date of entry, but as against 
entries made prior to said time contests may be brought for such 
default after the expiration of three years from date of entry. But if 
in said last-mentioned case the contest is brought before the expiration 
of four years, it shall be a defense if the entry man shows that prior 
to the initiation of contest he had taken steps toward perfecting the 
entry under the amendatory act of March 3, 1891. 

In reference to desert-land entries made prior to August 4, 1894, the 
time for making final proof is extended to five years from date of entry 
by acts of July 26, 1894, and August 4, 1894, and the rule above stated 
with regard to the time after which contests may be brought, for failure 
to irrigate and reclaim the land, must be understood with the modifi- 
cation that contests can not be brought against entries to which said 
acts apply until after the expiration of the time as thereby extended. 

The period covered by a departmental order suspending a desert-land 
entry must be excluded in computing the time within which reclamation 
must be effected, and final proof made. 

Contests of homestead, timber- culture, and desert-land entries for 
other causes than abandonment or failure to comply with the law can 
be brought at any time after entry and before patent, without reference 
to the time allowed for compliance with law, provided final certificate 
has not been issued two years prior to contest. 

Contests against entries for causes affecting the legality or validity 
of the same, or against locations or selections of any character, can be 
brought at any time after the entry, location, or selection has been 
made, and before patent has issued. 

On a contest being brought, the officers will set apart a day for hear- 
ing, giving all parties in interest due notice of the time and place of 
trial. 

In cases of inability to make personal service of the notice, and when 
it becomes necessary to serve it by publication, the act of Congress of 
June 3, 1878 (20 Stat. L., 91), directs that the same shall a be printed 
in some newspaper printed in the county where the land in contest 
lies, and if no newspaper be printed in such county, then in the news- 
paper printed in the county nearest to such land." 

The proceedings in such cases are governed by the rules of practice 
approved January 27, L899, which are given in a separate circular. 



94 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

SOLDIERS IN THE WAR OF 1898. 

Under the act approved June 16. 1898 (see Appendix No. 79, p. 256), 
no contest shall be initiated on the ground of abandonment, nor alle- 
gation of abandonment sustained against any such settler, unless it 
shall be alleged in the preliminary affidavit or affidavits that the set- 
tler's alleged absence from the land was not due to his employment in 
the military or naval service of the United States in time of war, and 
all affidavits of contest hereafter filed in which abandonment is alleged 
must conform to the requirements of this act. 

SPECULATIVE AND COLLUSIVE CONTESTS. 

No preference right of entry can be acquired through a contest which 
is shown by the evidence not to have been prosecuted in good faith. 
(Dayton v. Dayton, 6 L. D., 164.) 

According to the well- settled interpretation of the homestead law in 
this Department, residence upon a homestead is not required as a pre- 
requisite to a patent, beyond the period of five years, and it is held 
that after a patent has been earned by five years' actual residence and 
improvement, a homestead entry can not be successfully contested 
because of a change of residence therefrom within the statutory period 
for the submission of final proof. (Lawrence v. Phillips, 6 L. D., 140; 
Davis v. Fairbanks, 9 L. D., 530.) 

The period within which final homestead proof may be submitted was 
extended to eight years from date of entry by the act of July 26, 1894 
(28 Stat. L., 123), as to all entries then existing. 

DISQUALIFICATION OF LOCAL OFFICERS. 

The act of Congress of January 11, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 26), enacts as 
follows, viz : 

That no register or receiver shall receive evidence in, hear, or determine any cause 
pending in any district land office in which cause he is interested, directly or indi- 
rectly, or has been of counsel, or where he is related to any of the parties in interest 
by consanguinity or affinity within the fourth degree, computing by the rules adopted 
by the common law. 

Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of every register or receiver so disqualified to 
report the fact of his disqualification to the Commissioner of the General Land Office 
as soon as he shall ascertain it, and before the hearing of such cause, who thereupon, 
with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, shall designate some other reg- 
ister, receiver, or special agent of the Land Department to act in the place of the 
disqualified officer, and the same authority is conferred on the officer so designated 
which such register or receiver would otherwise have possessed to act in such case. 

LAND PATENTS. 

All patents issuing from the General Land Office are issued in the 
name of the United States, are signed by the President, and counter- 
signed by the recorder of the General Land Office, and are recorded 
in the office in books kept for the purpose. (Sec. 458, Eev. Stat.) 

Patents for lands entered or located under general laws can be issued 
only in the name of the party making the entry or location, or, in case 
of his death before making proof, to the statutory successor making 
the proof, as provided by law. 

The recitals and description of land in patents will in all cases follow 
the register's certificate of entry or location, as prescribed by law. i 

When patents are ready for delivery, they will in all cases be trans- 
mitted to the local office at which the location or entry was made, where 
they can be obtained by the party entitled thereto, upon surrender of 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 95 

the duplicate receipt, or certificate, as the case may be, unless the dupli- 
cate shall have been previously filed in this office with a request that 
the patent be delivered as requested by the person sending the same; 
and in no case will the patent be delivered, either from this or the local 
office, except upon receipt of such duplicate, or, in case of its loss from 
any cause, upon the filing in lieu of the same of an affidavit made by 
the present bona fide owner of the land, accounting for the loss of the 
same, and also showing ownership of the tracts or a portion thereof 
embraced in the patent. 

It is provided in section 8 of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 
1093; Appendix No. 44, p. 221), that suits by the United States to 
vacate and annul any patent previously issued shall only be brought 
within five years from the passage of said act, and suits to vacate and 
annul patents thereafter issued shall only be brought within six years 
after the date of the issue of such patents. 

By act of March 2, 1896 (29 Stat., 42; Appendix No. 67, p. 240), the 
time within which such suits might be brought, so far as regards pat- 
ents issued under a railroad or wagon-road grant, was extended so as 
to admit of bringing suit in such cases within five years from the pas- 
sage of the act in cases of patents issued prior thereto, and in cases of 
patents issued thereafter within six years after the date of the issuance 
of the patents, with a provision protecting the titles of bona fide pur- 
chasers of such lands. 

With reference to furnishing certified copies of patents, see page 137. 

STATES IN WHICH THERE ARE NO DISTRICT LAND OFFICES. 

Any vacant tracts of public land in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, States 
in which there are no land offices, may, under the act of March 3, 1877 
(19 Stat. L., 315), be entered at the General Land Office, subject to the 
provisions of law touching the entry of public lands, and the necessary 
proofs and affidavits required in such cases may be made before some 
officer competent to administer oaths under the provisions of the act 
of May 26, 1890 (26 Stat. L., 121; Appendix No. 38, p. 213), and moneys 
received by the Commissioner of the General Land Office for lands 
entered by cash entry shall be covered into the Treasury. In carry- 
ing into effect the provisions of this act the following method will be 
observed : 

A clerk has been designated by the Commissioner to receive and act 
upon the applications which may be offered for such entries and to 
have charge of the correspondence connected therewith. All moneys 
received go into the charge of the receiving clerk (designated under 
section 461 of the Revised Statutes; Appendix No. 1, p. 143), and any 
moneys found to belong to the United States on the cases being finally 
passed upon are turned over to the Treasury according to law. 

Applications will be immediately entered in a preliminary abstract 
for each State in the order in which they are received; will be carefully 
examined in connection with the plats, files, and records, and admitted 
or rejected according to the law and instructions governing the case. 

From such preliminary abstracts the admitted applications will be 
carried to a regular monthly abstract, and the proper certificates and 
receipts will be issued by the Commissioner, acting as ex officio regis- 
ter and receiver. The entries thus admitted will be properly posted in 
the tract books, and the papers therefor placed on file for such further 
action as may be necessary. These entries will be numbered consecu- 
tively in continuation of the series entered upon at the respective dis- 
trict offices. The applicants will be promptly advised of the result of 



96 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the examination, and, where the desired entries are admitted, will be 
furnished with the appropriate paper, to be held as evidence of title 
until the delivery of the patents. 

In case of conflicting applications, that which is first received will be 
first acted upon, as above directed, and will be considered as giving the 
applicant the legal right to the tract applied for if unexceptionable in 
other respects. 

REJECTED APPLICATIONS TO MAKE ENTRY. 

Where an application to file for or enter public land is refused by the 
register and receiver they must notify the applicant of the rejection of 
the application and the cause thereof, and that he is allowed thirty days 
for appeal to the Commissioner of the General Land Office. Eejected 
applications will be retained by the register and receiver on the files of 
their office. 

When notice of rejection is sent through the mails, five days will be 
allowed for the transmission of the notice, and five days for the trans- 
mission of an appeal, making forty days in all from the issue of notice 
in which to place the appeal on file in the district land office. 

APPEALS. 

Appeals must be in writing and be filed in the district land office. 
An appeal should state as plainly as possible the ground of objection to 
the decision appealed from. The register and receiver will at once 
transmit the appeal to the General Land Office. No appeal from the 
decision of the local land office will be received at the General Land 
Office unless forwarded through the local officers in the manner herein 
prescribed. 

REPORT OF REGISTER AND RECEIVER. 

The appeal should be accompanied by a report upon the case by the 
register and receiver. This report should recite the proceedings had, to 
wit : The application and rejection, with the reasons therefor; the status 
of the tract involved, as shown by the records of the office, together 
with a reference to all entries, filings, annotations, memoranda, and 
correspondence shown by such record relating thereto, so as to direct 
the attention of the Commissioner to all the material facts and issues 
necessary to a proper determination of the questions presented. 

The report should be forwarded at once upon the filing of the appeal, 
except in contested cases after regular hearing, when, unless all parties 
request its earlier transmission, it should not be made until the expira- 
tion of the thirty days included in the notice, in order that all parties 
may have full opportunity to examine the record and prepare their 
arguments upon the questions at issue. 

All documents once received must be kept on file with the cases, and 
no papers will be allowed under any circumstances to be removed from 
such files or taken from the custody of the register and receiver; but 
access to the same, under proper rules, so as not to interfere with neces- 
sary public business, should be permitted to the parties in interest, 
under the supervision of those officers. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 97 

ACTION OF GENERAL LAND OFFICE. 

Of the sufficiency of such appeal the General Land Office will be the 
judge, and will dismiss from further notice any case wherein the appeal 
is based upon frivolous grounds, or where the proper formalities are 
wanting, uuless, either in the record of the case or upon the books of 
this office, some sufficient cause shall be found for farther considera- 
tion under the general power of supervision vested in the Commissioner 
by law. 

APPEAL FROM THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. 

Upon any question relating to the disposal of the public lands appeal 
from the decision of the Commissioner of the General Land Office will 
lie to the Secretary of the Interior (Kev. Stat., sees. 441, 2273; Appendix 
No. 1, pp. 143 and 149), except in cases of interlocutory orders and 
decisions and orders for hearing, or other matters resting in the sound 
discretion of the Commissioner. These cases constitute matters of 
exception, which should be noted, and they will be considered by the 
Secretary on review. 

The appeal is required to be made in writing, fairly and specifically 
stating the points of exception to the decision appealed from, and must 
be filed either with the register aud receiver for transmission or with 
the Commissioner, within sixty days from receipt, by the party or his 
attorney, of the notice of the decision. When notice is given through 
the mail by the register and receiver, five days are allowed for the 
transmission of the letter from the local land office, and five days for 
the return of the appeal through the same channel, making a total of 
seventy days from date of mailing. 

After appeal is filed the fact of its receipt and pendency will be 
promptly communicated to the district office and to the parties, and 
thirty days from service of such notice will be allowed for the filing of 
argument on the points involved in the controversy. At the expiration 
of the time prescribed the papers and record will be forwarded to the 
Secretary of the Interior. All arguments shall be filed with the Com- 
missioner within the time specified in the notice in order that they may 
be referred to and considered in transmitting the case to the Secretary, 
if deemed expedient by the Commissioner. Examination of cases on 
appeal to the Secretary will be facilitated by filing in printed form such 
argument as it is desired to have considered. 

Decisions of the Commissioner not appealed from within the period 
prescribed become final and the case will be regularly closed. (Sec. 
2273, Rev. Stat,; Appendix No. 1, p. 149.) 

The decision of the Secretary is necessarily final so far as respects 
the action of the Executive. 

The minor details of the manner of proceeding in cases of contest 
before the Commissioner of the General Land Office and the Secretary 
of the Interior, for the information and guidance more especially of 
land officers and attorneys, may be found set forth in a separate pam- 
phlet entitled Rules of Practice. 

DEPOSITS FOR SPECIAL SURVEYS. 

1. The provisions of law governing such surveys and the issue and 
application of certificates of deposit on account thereof, are sections 
2401, 2402, and 2403, as amended by the act of August 20, 1894. 
3073 7 



98 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS 

Sec. 2401 (as amended by act of August 20, 1894) : 

When the settlers in any township not mineral or reserved by the Government, or 
persons and associatious lawfully possessed of coal lands and otherwise qualified to 
make entry thereof, or when the owners or grantees of public lands of the United 
States, under any law thereof, desire a survey made of the same under the authority 
of the surveyor-general, and shall file an application therefor in writing and shail 
deposit in a proper United States depository to the credit of the United States a 
sum sufficient to pay for such survey, together with all expenditures incident thereto, 
without cost or claim for indemnity on the United States, it shall be lawful for the 
surveyor-general, under such instructions as may be given him by the Commissioner 
of the General Land Office, and in accordance with law, to survey such township or 
such public lands owned by said grantees of the Government, and make return 
thereof to the general and proper local land office: Provided, That no application 
shall be granted unless the township so proposed to be surveyed is within the range 
of the regular progress of the public surveys embraced by existing standard lines 
or bases for township and subdivisional surveys. 

Sec. 2402 : 

The deposit of money in a proper United States depository, under the provisions 
of the preceding section, shall be deemed an appropriation of the sums so deposited 
for the objects contemplated by that section, and the Secretary of the Treasury is 
authorized to cause the sums so deposited to be placed to the credit of the proper 
appropriations for the surveying-service, but any excesses in such sums over and 
above the actual cost of the surveys, comprising all expenses incident thereto for 
which they were severally deposited, shall be repaid to the depositors, respectively. 

Sec. 2403 (as amended by the act of August 20, 1894) : 

Where settlers or owners or grantees of public lands make deposits in accordance 
with the provisions of section twenty-four hundred and one, as hereby amended, 
certificates shall be issued for such deposits, which may be used by settlers in part 
payment for the lands settled upon by them, the survey of which is paid for out of 
such deposits, or said certificates may be assigned by indorsement, and may be 
received by the Government in payment for any public lauds of the United States 
in the States where the surveys were made, entered, or to be entered, under the laws 
thereof. 

APPLICATION FOR SURVEYS. 

2. The amended law authorizes applications for surveys by settlers, 
or by persons and associations lawfully possessed of coal lands and 
otherwise qualified to make entry thereof, or by the owners or grantees 
of public lands of the United States under any law thereof. 

SETTLERS' APPLICATIONS. 

3. The law contemplates bona fide surveys upon bona fide applica- 
tions by actual settlers. Settlers are persons who have attached them- 
selves permanently to the soil. Nomadic persons and persons employed 
by others to make applications for surveys or to make alleged settle- 
ments for the purpose of acquiring a title to lands to be transferred to 
others are not settlers within the meaning of the law and are not lawful 
applicants under the provisions allowing settlers to make deposits for 
i>ublic-land surveys. 

4. In the case of applications for surveys by settlers the body of such 
settlers in the township, the survey of which is desired, must join in 
the application. There must also be a sufficient number of settlers to 
show good faith and to indicate that the survey is honestly desired for 
the benefit of existing actual settlements as contemplated by the law. 

5. Applications for surveys must be made in writing, and must des- 
ignate, as nearly as practicable, the township to be surveyed, and state 
that the applicants are well acquainted with the character and condi- 
tion of the land included in said township, and that the same is not 
mineral or reserved by the Government. Such applications must also 
particularly describe the land sought to be surveyed, stating whether 
the same is cultivable, grazing, timber, desert, swamp, mountainous, 
rocky, etc., and the reasons why it is claimed to be nonmineral, and 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 99 

must state the number of settlers in the township, the character and 
duration of their inhabitancy of the land, the extent and value of their 
improvements, the uses made of the land, and the quantity under cul- 
tivation. The situation of the township in respect to lines of public 
communication and the progress of the settlement of the country 
should be described, and all facts and circumstances stated which will 
enable an intelligent judgment to be formed in respect to the propriety 
of making the survey applied for. These statements must be verified 
by affidavit, and applicants must also declare that their applications 
are made in good faith and not for the purpose of enabling a surveying 
contract to be obtained, nor at the instance or in the interest or for the 
benefit of any other person. 

6. Townships within known mineral belts or known to contain min- 
eral lands or lands reserved by the Government are not surveyable 
under this system. 

7. Surveys under the deposit system are authorized only where " the 
township so proposed to be surveyed is within the range of the regular 
progress of the public surveys embraced by existing standard lines or bases 
for the township and siibdivisional surveys." Under this provision of 
the law it will be held that only township exteriors and subdivisioual 
lines are surveyable, and that the deposit system is not applicable to 
the survey of standard lines or bases. 

8. Retracements, or the resurvey of lines previously surveyed will not 
be deemed authorized under the deposit system. 

9. Surveyors general will critically examine all applications for sur- 
vey, testing the accuracy and reliability of the statements made by 
their knowledge of persons and lands and the best information they 
can obtain. They will reject all applications not believed by them to 
be made in good faith and upon truthful statements of fact. 

10. When an application for survey is approved by the surveyor- 
general he will transmit the same to this office, with the required 
proofs and his report upon the same, giving his reasons in full for the 
recommendation made. It is not believed that fictitious applications, 
or applications procured at the instance of surveyors or of operators 
in contract surveys, or applications designed to open unsettled town- 
ships to fraudulent entry, can successfully be imposed upon vigilant 
and faithful officers. Surveyors-general will therefore be held to strict 
accountability for their recommendation of applications or contracts 
hereafter found to be fictitious, fraudulent, or speculative. 

11. If the application is approved by this office it will be returned 
to the surveyor- general with authority to furnish the necessary esti- 
mate to applicants, and, upon proper deposit being made, to enter into 
contract for the execution of the survey. 

12. The surveyor-general will furnish applicants with two separate 
estimates, one for the field work and one for office expenses. He will 
estimate adequate sums, and the practice of requiring additional 
deposits to cover excess costs will be discontinued, except when 
expressly authorized by this office. 

13. Upon receiving such estimates applicants may deposit, in a proper 
United States depository (which should be in the land district in which 
the township to be surveyed is situated), to the credit of the Treasurer 
of the United States on account of surveying the public lands and 
expenses incident thereto, the sum so estimated as the total cost of the 
survey, including field and office work. If there be no public depository 
in the land district in which the lands are situated, the deposit may be 
made in an adjacent land district. 



100 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

14. Surveyors- general will not under any circumstances accept, for 
the purpose of making the deposit, moneys from applicants for surveys, 
either field or office work, but will instruct the applicants to deposit the 
amount in accordance with the instructions contained in preceding 
paragraph. 

15. For convenience in the use and application of certificates, the 
deposits should be made in such sums as that no certificate shall bear 
a face value of more than $200. 

16. Applicants must be instructed fully as to the necessity of imme- 
diately transmitting the original certificate to the Secretary of the 
Treasury, the duplicate to the surveyor-general, and the retention of 
the triplicate. 

17. When evidence of the required deposit is furnished in accord- 
ance with the foregoing regulations the surveyor-general will invite 
proposals for the survey by notice posted in his office for a period of 
thirty days, specifying the survey to be made, and stating that the 
contract will be let to the lowest responsible bidder (being a practical 
and reliable surveyor) at rates not exceeding those established by 
law for surveying the public lands. A copy of such notice will also be 
transmitted by the surveyor-general to the register and receiver of the 
land district in which the township to be surveyed is situated, and it 
shall be the duty of registers and receivers to post such notices con- 
spicuously in their offices. 

18. The surveyor-general will prepare a contract with the accepted 
bidder, and transmit the same to this office for approval in the usual 
manner. 

19. Triplicate certificates of deposit are receivable from the settlers 
making the deposits in part payment for the lands settled upon by 
them the surveying of which is paid for out of such deposits. 

20. The triplicate certificates may be assigned by indorsement, and 
when so assigned may be received in payment for any public lands of 
the United States entered or to be entered under the laws thereof in 
the States in which the lands surveyed for which the deposit was made 
are situated. 

21. Such certificates hereafter issued will not be regarded as assign- 
able or receivable until the township for the survey of which the deposit 
was made has been surveyed and the plat thereof filed in the district- 
land office. 

22. Where the amount of a certificate or certificates is less than the 
value of the lands taken the balance must be paid in cash. 

23. Where the certificate is for an amount greater than the cost of 
the land, but is surrendered in full payment for such land, the receiver 
will indorse on the triplicate certificate the amount for which it is 
received, and will charge the United States with that amount only. 

24. There is no provision of law authorizing the issue of duplicate 
certificates for certificates lost or destroyed. 

EXCESS REPAYMENTS. 

25. Where the amount of the deposit is greater than the cost of the 
survey, including field and office work, the excess is repayable upon an 
account to be stated by the surveyor-general. 

26. The surveyor-general will in all cases be careful to express upon 
the register's township plat the amount deposited by each individual, 
the cost of survey in the field and office work, and the amount to be 
refunded in each case. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 101 

27. Before transmitting accounts for refunding excesses the surveyor- 
general will indorse on the back of the triplicate certificate the follow- 

iDg: "$ refunded to , by account transmitted to the General 

Land Office with letter dated ," and will state in the account that 

he has made such indorsement. Where the whole amount deposited is 
to be refunded the surveyor-general will require the depositor to sur- 
render the triplicate certificate, and will traosmit it to this office with 
the account. 

28. No provision of law exists for refunding to other than the depos- 
itor, nor otherwise than as referred to in the preceding sections. 

ASSIGNMENTS. 

29. Certificates u may be assigned by indorsement." The indorse- 
ment required is that the person in whose name the deposit is made 
shall write his name on the back of the triplicate certificate. 

30. When there are several parties to or assignees of one certificate 
the register and receiver will make the proper indorsement on the 
triplicate certificate, showing the satisfaction of the pro rata share of 
each party interested. They will make the same notes on the register's 
certificate of purchase and the receiver's original and duplicate receipts. 

31. When the entire amount of a certificate is not satisfied at the 
same time, the triplicate should be retained by the receiver until satisfied. 
But such certificate should, as far as practicable, be satisfied during the 
current quarter. 

32. Certificates are not receivable in payment of fees and commis- 
sions chargeable by registers and receivers under section 2238, Bevised 
Statutes of the United States. 

registers' and receivers' returns. 

33. In their monthly cash abstracts the register and receiver will 
designate the entries in which certificates of deposit are used and the 
balance paid in cash, if any, noting on the certificates of purchase and 
receipt the manner of payment. The receiver in his monthly account 
current will debit the United States with the amount of such certificates, 
and in his quarterly accounts will specify each entry with these certifi- 
cates, giving number, date, amount for which received, by whom and 
with whom the deposit was made, and debit the United States with 
the same. 

34. The receiver must write across the face of each accepted certifi- 
cate the date of its receipt in payment of land, the number of the entry, 
and description of the tracts sold. 

35. Certificates received in payment for lands sold must be forwarded 
once a month to this office, with letter of transmittal and abstract. 
(Form 4-543.) 

36. Surveyors-general are directed to instruct their deputies that 
they must designate in the field notes and plats of their surveys the 
location of each and every settlement within a township surveyed, 
whether permanent in character or not, together with the names of 
such settlers and their improvements, if any. 

37. When no settlers are found in a township the field notes of sur- 
vey must expressly so state, and an omission to describe the settle- 
ments and improvements, or the absence of one or both in the field notes 
and plat, will be deemed a sufficient cause to infer fraud, and the 
accounts of the deputy will be suspended until such omission shall 
have been supplied. A suspension of the commission of the deputy 



102 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

will in the meantime take place, and all the facts will be reported to 
this office for consideration and action. 

38. In every case of a contract heretofore or hereafter approved which 
the surveyor- general has reason to believe was fraudulently procured, 
such contracts and the accounts thereunder must be immediately 
suspended and the facts reported to this office. 

CERTIFICATES ISSUED PRIOR TO AUGUST 20, 1894. 

39. Eeceivers of public moneys in accepting in payment for public 
lands certificates issued for deposits made under the provisions of sec- 
tion 2401 (prior to the amendments of said section by the act of August 
20, 1894) are guided by the following instructions: 

40. The triplicate certificates representing such deposits are receiv- 
able from the settlers making the deposits in part payment for their 
lands entered under the preemption and homestead laws and situated 
in the township the surveying of which was paid for out of such 
deposits. 

41. The said triplicate certificates may be assigned by indorsements 
and when so assigned be received in payment for lands "entered by 
settlers under the preemption and homestead laws" of the United 
States in accordance with the provisions contained in the following 
paragraphs. 

42. Triplicate certificates issued prior to the act of March 3, 1879, 
can be used only in payment for lands situated in the township, the 
surveying of which was paid for out of such deposits. 

43. Triplicate certificates issued subsequent to the act of March 3, 
1879, and prior to the act of August 7, 1882, can be used in payment 
for lands in any land district. 

44. Triplicate certificates issued on and after August 7, 1882, and 
prior to August 20, 1894, can be used in payment for lands only in the 
land district in which the surveyed township is situated, except when 
issued for additional deposits upon contracts entered into prior to 
August 7, 1882. 

45. Triplicate certificates issued subsequent to the act of August 20, 
1894, for additional deposits to cover costs of surveys under -contracts 
entered into prior to August 20, 1894, can be used only in payment for 
lands " entered by settlers under the preemption and homestead laws" 
of the United States and in conformity to existing law at the date such 
contract was made. 

COAL CLAIMANTS' APPLICATIONS. 

In addition to the rights of settlers, referred to in the foregoing por- 
tions of this circular, sections 2401, 2402, and 2403, United States 
Kevised Statutes, as amended by the act of August 20, 1894, embrace 
provisions in favor of " persons and associations lawfully possessed of 
coal lands and otherwise qualified to make entry thereof." 

The coal-land laws contained in sections 2347 to 2352, United States 
Eevised Statutes, provide methods by which persons properly qualified 
may become lawfully possessed of coal lands even before the survey of 
the lands, and be entitled to enter the same after survey. For particu- 
lar information in regard thereto reference is made to departmental 
circular of July 31, 1882, entitled, Coal Land Laws and Eegulations 
Thereunder. Such parties, in cases where the tracts of which they are 
lawfully possessed are still unsurveyed, may, under said sections 2401, 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 103 

2402, and 2403, as amended by act of August 20, 1894, apply to the sur- 
veyor-general for the surveying district in which the lands are included 
for a survey of the township or townships including the land, accord- 
ing to the provisions of said sections. Such an application must be 
accompanied by the affidavit of the applicant or applicants substantially 
as prescribed for declaratory statements on page 7 of the said circular 
of July 31, 1882, corroborated by the testimony of two or more witnesses, 
in which the qualifications of the applicants, the character and location 
of the land, indicating the township or townships in which it is included 
as nearly as practicable, and other essential facts must be so set forth as 
to satisfy the surveyor-general that the case comes properly within the 
provisions of the law as above given. He will thereupon, if he approves 
the application, transmit the same to this office, with the required 
proofs and his report. Subsequent proceedings will be governed by 
the regulations as hereinbefore given under the head of " Settlers' 
applications." 

OWNERS' OR GRANTEES' APPLICATIONS. 

The same rights accorded to settlers and to persons and associations 
lawfully possessed of coal lands, and otherwise qualified to make entry 
thereof, are extended also to " the owners or grantees of public lands 
of the United States under any law thereof," and substantially the 
same instructions will apply to the last-mentioned class of cases as 
those above expressed with regard to the other classes of cases. The 
applicants must produce with their applications proof of their owner- 
ship of the land, to consist of their own affidavits, corroborated by 
witnesses, and such other proof as may be available to satisfy the 
surveyor-general of the essential facts, including a showing of the loca- 
tion of the land, in what township or townships situated, as nearly as 
practicable, the statute making the grant, or other source of title, as 
well as the identity of the applicants, with the true owners or grantees. 

The surveyor-general, if he approve the application, will transmit the 
same to this office with the proofs and his report as provided for in 
the other classes of cases. In regard to subsequent proceedings, the 
instructions given under the head of " Settlers' applications" will gen- 
erally apply. 

REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE RECOGNITION OF AGENTS AND 
ATTORNEYS BEFORE DISTRICT LAND OFFICES. 

1. An attorney at law who desires to represent claimants or contest- 
ants before a district land office must file a certificate, under the seal 
of a United States, State, or Territorial court for the judicial district 
in which he resides or the local land office is situated, that he is an 
attorney in good standing. 

2. Any person (not an attorney at law) who desires to appear as an 
agent for claimants or contestants before a district land office must file 
a certificate from a judge of a United States court, or of a State or Ter- 
ritorial court having common-law jurisdiction, except probate courts, 
in the county wherein he resides or the local office is situated, duly 
authenticated under the seal of the court, that such person is of good 
moral character and in good repute, possessed of the necessary quali- 
fications to enable him to render clients valuable service, and otherwise 
competent to advise and assist them in the presentation of their claims 
or contests. 



104 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

3. The oath of allegiance required by section 3478 of the United States 
Eevised Statutes must also be filed by applicants. In case of a firm, 
the names of the individuals composing the firm must be given, and a 
certificate and oath as to each member of the firm will be required. 

4. An applicant to practice under the above regulations must address 
a letter to the register and receiver, inclosing the certificate and oath 
above required, in which letter his full name and post- office address 
must be given. He must state whether or not he has ever been recog- 
nized as an attorney or agent before this Department or any bureau 
thereof, or any of the local land offices, and if so, whether he has ever 
been suspended or disbarred from practice. He must also state whether 
he holds any office under the Government of the United States. 

After an application to practice has been filed in due form, the regis- 
ter and receiver will recognize the applicant as an attorney or agent, as 
the case may be, unless they have good reason to believe that the per- 
son making the application is unfit to practice before their offices, or 
unless otherwise instructed by the Commissioner or Secretary. 

Begisters and receivers must keep a record of the names and resi- 
dences of all attorneys and agents recognized as entitled to represent 
clients in their several offices. 

Every attorney must, either at the time of entering his appearance 
for a claimant or contestant or within thirty days thereafter, file the 
written authority for such appearance, signed by said claimant or con- 
testant, and setting forth his or her present residence, occupation, and 
post-office address. Upon a failure to file such written authority 
within the time limited, it is the duty of the register and receiver to no 
longer recognize nim as attorney in the case. 

An attorney in fact will be required to file a power of attorney of his 
principal, duly executed, specifying the power granted and stating the 
party's present residence, occupation, and post-office address. 

When the appearance is for a person other than a claimant or con- 
testant of record the attorney or agent will be required to state the 
name of the person for whom he appears, his post-office address, the 
character and extent of his interest in the matter involved, and when 
and from what source it was acquired. Authorizations and powers 
signed or executed in blank will not be recognized. 

If any attorney or agent shall knowingly commit any of the following 
acts, viz : Eepresent fictitious or fraudulent entrymen ; prosecute collu- 
sivecontests; speculate in relinquishments of entries; assist in procuring 
illegal or fraudulent entries or filings; represent himself as the attorney 
or agent of entrymen when he is only attorney or agent for a transfereu 
or mortgagee; conceal the name or interest of his client; give pernicious 
advice to parties seeking to obtain title to public land; attempt to pre- 
vent a qualified person from settling upon, entering, or filing for a tract 
of public land properly subject to such entry or filing, or be otherwise 
guilty of dishonest or unprofessional conduct, or who, in connection 
with business pending in local land offices or in this Department, shall 
knowingly employ as subagent, clerk, or correspondent a person who 
has been guilty of any one of these acts, or who has been prohibited 
from practicing before the register and receiver or this Department, it 
will be sufficient reason for his disbarment from practice, and registers 
and receivers are authorized to refuse to further recognize any person 
as agent or attorney who shall be known to them or be proven before 
them to be guilty of improper and unprofessional conduct as above 
stated. 

An attorney or agent who has been admitted to practice in any par- 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 105 

ticular land district may be enrolled and authorized to practice in any 
other district upon filing with the register and receiver of such district 
a certificate of the register or receiver before whom he was admitted to 
practice that he is an attorney or agent in good standing. 

Any unprofessional conduct on the part of an attorney or agent should 
be reported to the Commissioner at once, together with the action of 
the local land officers in the premises. 

Appeals from the action of the register and receiver in refusing to 
admit to practice or in refusing to further recognize an agent or attorney 
will lie to the Commissioner and Secretary, as in other appealable cases. 
(Circular approved March 19, 1887, 5 L. D., 508.) 

REPAYMENTS. 

Section 2362 of the Eevised Statutes (Appendix No. 1, p. 159) pro- 
vides for repayment to the purchaser, or his legal representatives or 
assignees, upon proof "that any tract of land has been erroneously 
sold by the United States, so that from any cause the sale can not be 
confirmed." 

Section 2 of the act of June 16, 1880 (21 Stat. L., 287 ; Appendix No. 21, 
p. 179), provides that " in all cases where homestead, or timber- culture, 
or desert-land entries, or other entries of public lands have been hereto- 
fore or shall hereafter be canceled for conflict, or where, from any cause, 
the entry has been erroneously allowed and can not be confirmed," the 
amount of purchase money, fees, and commissions may be repaid. 

DEFINITION OF " ERRONEOUSLY ALLOWED.' 7 

This can not be given an interpretation of such latitude as would 
countenance fraud. If the records of the Land Office, or the proofs 
furnished, should show that the entry ought not to be permitted, and 
yet it were permitted, then it would be " erroneously allowed." But if 
a tract of land were subject to entry, and the proofs showed a compli- 
ance with law, and the entry should be canceled because the proofs 
were shown to be false, it could not be held that the entry was " erro- 
neously allowed f and in such case repayment would not be authorized. 

APPLICATION FOR REPAYMENT OF PURCHASE MONEY. 

In applications for repayment where patent has not issued, the dupli- 
cate receipt must be surrendered. The applicant must make affidavit 
that he has not transferred or otherwise encumbered the title to the 
land and that the same has not become a matter of record. This affi- 
davit may be made before either the register or receiver of the district 
land office, or before any officer authorized to administer oaths. When 
made before a notary public or justice of the peace a certificate of 
official character is required. 

Where the duplicate receipt has been lost or destroyed, a certificate 
will also be required from the proper recording officer, showing that the 
same has not become a matter of record and that there is no incum- 
brance of the title to the land thereunder. A like certificate must be 
furnished when the application is made by another than the original 
purchaser. 

Where a patent has been executed and delivered it must be sur- 
rendered. 



106 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Where the title has become a matter of record, and in all cases where 
patent has issued, a duly executed deed, relinquishing to the United 
States all right and claim to the land under the entry or patent, must 
accompany the application. This deed must be duly recorded, and a 
certificate must also be produced from the proper recording officer where 
the land is situated, showing that said deed is so recorded and that the 
records of his office do not exhibit any other conveyance or incumbrance 
of the title to the land. 

Where a valid title to the land embraced in a canceled entry has 
been conveyed by the Government to other parties, the applicant for 
repayment under such canceled entry must reconvey to the United States 
the title derived from such invalid entry. If, however, the applicant 
has acquired the valid title already conveyed by the United States, it 
will not be necessary for him to reconvey the laud, but he may make a 
full statement, with corroborative evidence of the facts, waiving all 
claim under the invalid entry, and thereupon receive repayment of the 
amount erroneously paid. 

The reconveyance to the United States must conform in every par- 
ticular to the laws of the State or Territory in which the land is located 
relative to transfers of real property; in the case of a married man, in 
localities where the right of dower exists, there must be a release of 
dower by the wife, and in case of an executor or administrator, due 
proof of authority to alienate the estate. 

HEIRS, EXECUTORS, AND ADMINISTRATORS. 

Where application is made by heirs, satisfactory proof of heirship is 
required. This must be the best evidence that can be obtained, and 
must show that the parties applying are the heirs and the only heirs of 
the deceased. Where application is made by executors, a certificate of 
executorship from the probate court must accompany the application. 

Where application is made by administrators, the original or a 
certified copy of the letters of administration must be furnished. 

ASSIGNEES. 

Assignees of land who purchase after entry are, in general, deemed 
entitled to receive the repayment when the lands are found to have 
been erroneously sold by the Government. But this rule does not 
apply to the repayment of double minimum excesses. 

Where applications are made by assignees, the applicants must show 
their right to repayment by furnishing properly authenticated abstracts 
of title, or the original deeds or instruments of assignment, or certified 
copies thereof, and also show by affidavits or otherwise that they have 
not been indemnified by their grantors or assignors for the failure of 
title, and that title has not been perfected in them by their grantors 
through other sources. 

Where there has been a conveyance of the land and the original pur- 
chaser applies for repayment, he mast show that he has indemnified his 
assignee or perfected the title in him through another source, or pro- 
duce a full reconveyance to himself from the last grantee or assignee. 

REPAYMENT OF FEES, COMMISSIONS, AND EXCESSES. 

The first section of the act of June 16, 1880, provides for the repay- 
ment to innocent parties of the fees, commissions, and excess payments 
made upon soldiers' additional homestead entries which were, after 
location, found to be fraudulent and void and have therefore been 
canceled. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 107 

Applications for repayment under this section must be accompanied 
by the duplicate receipt, or evidence of the loss of the same, and by a 
concise statement under oath setting- forth all the facts and circum- 
stances connected with the procurement and use of the fraudulent 
papers upon which the canceled entries were based, together with such 
documentary or other proof as may tend to establish the innocence of 
the parties relative thereto. 

In the case of soldiers' additional homestead entries, repayment of 
fees, commissions, and excesses can be made only to the party who 
paid the same — not to a party to whom the claimant conveyed the land. 

In the case of applications for the repayment of fees, commissions, 
etc., on canceled homestead and other entries, under the second section 
of the act, the duplicate receipt must be surrendered, with a relinquish- 
ment of all right, title, and claim in and to the land described in the 
receipt indorsed thereon, attested by two witnesses, and acknowledged 
before the register and receiver or before any officer authorized to take 
acknowledgments. If the duplicate receipt has been lost or destroyed, 
an affidavit stating the fact must be furnished, together with a relin- 
quishment of the character indicated. The applicant must make affi- 
davit that he has not made another entry with the credit of the fee and 
commission paid by him on the canceled entry. 

REPAYMENT OF DOUBLE MINIMUM EXCESS. 

The last clause of the second section of the act of June 16, 1880, 
provides that "in all cases where parties have paid double minimum 
price for land which has afterwards been found not to be within the 
limits of a railroad land grant, the excess of $1.25 per acre shall in like 
manner be repaid to the purchaser thereof or to the heirs or assigns." 
In such cases the duplicate receipt must be surrendered; or if lost or 
destroyed, an affidavit stating that fact must accompany the applica- 
tion. 

Repayment of double minimum excesses will be made only to the 
original entryman, his heirs, or legal representatives, or to the assignee, 
specifically, of the excess purchase money. The sale and transfer of 
the land is not of itself treated as an assignment of the right to receive 
repayment of double minimum excess. 

TRANSMITTAL OF APPLICATIONS. 

All applications for repayment under the above provisions must be 
made in writing and be signed by the party applying, and must describe 
the tract or otherwise designate the entry with certainty. They should 
be transmitted, with all the papers in the case, through the register 
and receiver of the proper district land office, who will make due report 
thereon. 

REPAYMENTS UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1887. 

In addition to the provisions for repayment mentioned in the fore- 
going, there are special provisions contained in the act of March 3, 
1887, entitled "An act for the relief of settlers and purchasers of lands 
on the public domain in the States of Nebraska and Kansas." (24 
Stat. L., 550; Appendix, No. 30, p. 184.) Under these provisions three 
classes of persons who settled upon or purchased lands within the 
grant made by an act entitled "An act for a grant of lands to the State 
of Kansas to aid in the construction of the Northern Kansas Railroad 



108 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

and Telegraph," approved July 23, 1866, are entitled to reimbursement, 
viz: 

1. All persons, their grantees, heirs, and devisees, who settled upon 
or purchased lands within the limits of the grant in question, and to 
whom patents have been issued, but against whom decrees have been, 
or may hereafter be, rendered by the United States circuit court on 
account of the priority of the railroad grant. 

2. Any person, his grantees, heirs, assigns, or devisees, who shall 
prove to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that his case 
is like those of the class above described, except that he has not been 
sued and subjected to judgment, and that he has, in good faith, without 
litigation, paid to the person holding the prior title by the railroad 
grant the sum demanded of him. 

3. Only actual and bona fide settlers on the lands referred to in the 
preceding sections, their grantees, heirs, representatives, or devisees, 
are entitled to reimbursement under the decree, not to exceed $3.50 per 
acre ; but no one person shall be entitled to compensation at such rate 
for more than 160 acres. 

4. All other persons who purchased any part of said lands at $1.25 
per acre, their heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, are entitled to 
repayment at $1.25 per acre, provided said money was actually paid into 
the Treasury. 

In the execution of this act the following regulations are prescribed : 

1. All applications under this act must be made in writing, and be 
signed by the party applying, and must describe the tract and designate 
the entry with certainty. 

2. Claimants of the class first described must file copy of the decree, 
duly certified by the clerk and under the seal of the court rendering 
the same, to the effect that such a decree was rendered in a bona fide 
controversy between a plaintiff showing title under the grant and a 
defendant holding the patent or holding by deed under the patentee, 
and that the decision was in favor of the plaintiff on the ground of the 
priority of the grant made by said act to the filing, settlement, or 
purchase by the defendant or his grantor. 

3. Claimant must also file with said decree and certificate a bill of 
costs in such case, duly certified by the clerk and under the seal of the 
court in which the decree was rendered. 

4. Claimants of the second class will be required to furnish a certified 
copy of the record of the transfer from said company, or from the com- 
pany's grantee, with evidence that he has in good faith paid to the 
person holding the prior titlethe sum demanded of him without litigation. 

5. Claimants of the third class should apply for a refundment of pur- 
chase money in accordance with regulations governing the repayment 
of purchase money for lands erroneously sold. 

6. When the grantee, assignee, or devisee of the original purchaser 
makes application under this act, he must, in addition to the foregoing, 
show his right to receive the money by furnishing proper authenticated 
abstracts of title, or the original deed or instrument of assignment, or 
of the will, or certified copies thereof. 

7. When application is made by heirs, satisfactory proof of heirship 
is required. 

8. When application is made by executors, the original or a certified 
copy of letters testamentary must accompany the application. 

9. When application is made by administrators, the original or a cer- 
tified copy of letters of administration must be furnished. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 109 

10. All parties who are entitled to repayment under tlie aforesaid act 
will be required to execute a relinquishment, which must accompany 
the application, in the following or equivalent form: 

Know all men by these presents, that I, , of , for and in consi delation of 

the sum of , to me paid by the United States, have released and forever dis- 
charged the United States from all claim of any kind, nature, and character what- 
soever, by virtue of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1887 ; and that I am the 

identical party named in the decree, in the case of ■ v. , or who made said 

entry No. — , at land office, State of . 



Two witnesses 



State of , 

County of 

On this day of , 189-, before the subscriber, a in and for said county, 

personally came , to me well known to be the person who subscribed the forego- 
ing release, and who upon being duly sworn by me according to law on oath 

declared and acknowledged that had freely and voluntarily executed the forego- 
ing release and for the reason stated; and at the same time came , residing at 

, and also , residing at , each of whom being by me duly sworn according 

to law deposed and said, each for himself and not one for the other, that they well 
knew the person making the said release to be the individual described in the decree, 
or who made said entry and who executed the said release. 



Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged before me this , 189- 



Note. — This must be acknowledged before a clerk of a court or other officer author- 
ized to take acknowledgements of deeds in the county where the lands are situated, 
whose official character and signature must be certified to by the clerk of a court of 
record. 

RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE USE OF TIMBER 
ON THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 

[Circular of March 17, 1898.] 

By virtue of the power vested in the Secretary of the Interior by the 
act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat., 1093), the following rules and regula- 
tions are hereby prescribed: 

1. The act, so far as it relates to timber on public lands, as extended 
by the act of February 13, 1893 (27 Stat., 444), applies only to the 
States of Colorado, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, 
Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah, the Territories of Arizona and New 
Mexico and the District of Alaska. 

The following rules and regulations do not apply to the district of 
Alaska, for which rules and regulations are prescribed on page 126 of 
this circular. 

2. The intention of the act is to enable settlers upon public lands 
and other residents within the States and Territories above named who 
have not a sufficient supply of timber on their own claims or farms for 
use thereon for domestic purposes and who are unable to procure the 
needed timber from private lands, or from public lands under other 
authority of law, to secure from public lands, for said purposes, timber 
to supply their immediate and pressing wants. 

Such being the case, it was not the intention of Congress to authorize 
the taking of timber from public lands in said States and Territories to 
serve as an article of merchandise and traffic, whereby profits might be 



110 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

secured, not only from the labor bestowed in handling the timber, but 
by charging for the timber itself, after obtaining the same free of cost 
from the Government; which would practically open a door for specu- 
lation in public timber, resulting in the holders of permits being in a 
position to prevent competition and virtually control the market for 
timber in their localities. 

3. Settlers upon public lands and other residents of the States and 
Territories above named who have not a sufficient supply of timber on 
their own claims or farms for use thereon for such domestic purposes 
as firewood, fencing, or building purposes, or for necessary use in devel- 
oping the mineral and other natural resources of the lands owned or 
occupied by them, may procure timber, free of charge, from unoccupied, 
unreserved, nonmineral public lands within said States and Territories 
strictly for use on their own claims or lands therein for the purposes 
enumerated in this section (but not for sale or disposal, nor for use on 
other lands or by other persons, nor for export from the State or Terri- 
tory where procured), to an extent not exceeding, in stumpage valua- 
tion, $100 in any one year. 

It is not necessary to secure permission from the Department to take 
timber from public lands as above allowed. The exercise of such privi- 
lege is, however, subject at all times to supervision by the Department, 
with a view to restriction or prohibition, if deemed necessary. 

4. In cases in which the parties needing the timber are not in a posi- 
tion to procure it from the public lands themselves, it is allowable for 
them to secure the cutting, removing, sawing, or other manufacture of 
the timber through the medium of others, agreeing with the parties 
thus acting as their agents direct, in taking or otherwise handling the 
timber, that they shall be paid a reasonable amount to cover their time 
and labor expended and all legitimate expenses incurred in connection 
therewith, exclusive of any charge for the timber itself. 

5. The uses specified in section 3 of these rules and regulations con- 
stitute the only purposes for which timber maybe taken, free of charge, 
from public lands in said States and Territories, under this act. 

6. The cutting and removing of timber, free of charge, under said act 
of March 3, 1891, is confined to unreserved, unoccupied, nonmineral 
public lands, in the States and Territories named therein, inasmuch as 
the act specifically provides that the same shall not operate to repeal 
the act of June 3, 1878 (20 Stat., 88), which makes provision, in said 
States and Territories, for the free cutting of timber on public lands 
that are known to be of a strictly mineral character. 

7. It is further provided in said act of March 3, 1891, that " nothing 
herein contained shall operate to enlarge the rights of any railway 
company to cut timber on the public domain." Consequently, no tim- 
ber may be taken thereunder from public lands for use by any railroad 
company. 

8. In order, however, that sufficient public timber may be placed upon 
the home market in said States and Territories, for all legitimate purposes 
of trade, to such a reasonable extent as shall meet existing emergencies 
in the matter of demand therefor, sales of timber on the unreserved 
lands, in general, mineral and nonmineral, in said States and Territories, 
may be directed by the Department from time to time. 

The sale of timber is optional, and the Secretary may exercise his 
discretion at all times as to the necessity or desirability of any sale. 

9. While sales of timber may be directed by this Department with- 
out previous request from private individuals, petitions from responsible 
persons for the sale of timber in particular localities will be considered. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. Ill 

Such petitions must describe the laud upon which the timber stands by 
legal subdivisions, if surveyed; if unsurvcyed, as definitely as possible 
by natural landmarks; the character of the country, whether rough, 
steep, or mountainous, agricultural or mineral, or valuable chiefly for 
its forest growth; and state whether or not the removal of the timber 
would injuriously affect the public interests. If any of the timber is 
dead, estimate the quantity in feet, board measure, with the value, and 
state whether killed by fire or other cause. Of the live timber, state 
the different kinds and estimate the quantity of each kind in trees per 
acre. Estimate the average diameter of each kind of timber, and 
estimate the number of trees of each kind per acre above the average 
diameter. State the number of trees of each kind above the average 
diameter it is desired to have offered for sale, with an estimate of the 
number of feet, board measure, therein, and an estimate of the value 
of the timber as it stands. These petitions must be filed in the proper 
local laud office, for transmission to the CommissioneL' of the General 
Land Office. 

10. Before any sale is authorized, the timber will be examined and 
appraised, and other questions involved duly investigated, by an official 
designated for the purpose; and upon his report action will be based. 

11. When a sale is ordered, notice thereof will be given by publica- 
tion by the Commissioner of the General Land Office; and if the tim- 
ber to be sold stands in more than one county, published notice will 
be given in each of the counties, in addition to the required general 
publication. 

12. The time and place of filing bids, and other information for a 
correct understanding of the terms of each sale, will be given in the 
published notices. Timber is not to be sold for less than the appraised 
value, and when a bid is accepted a certificate of acceptance will be 
issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office to the successful 
bidder, who, at the time of making payment, must present the same to 
the receiver of public moneys for the land district in which the timber 
stands. The Commissioner of the General Land Office must approve 
all sales, and he may, in sales in excess of $500 in value, make allot- 
ment of quantity to any bidder or bidders, at a fixed price, if he deems 
proper, so as to avoid monopoly. The right is also reserved to reject 
any or all bids. A reasonable cash deposit with the proper receiver of 
public moneys, to accompany each bid, will be required. 

13. Within thirty days after notice to a bidder of an award of timber 
to him, payment must be made in full to the receiver for the timber so 
awarded. The purchaser must have in hand the receipt of the receiver 
for such payment before he will be allowed to cut, remove, or otherwise 
dispose of the timber in any manner. The timber must all be cut and 
removed within one year from the date of the notice by the receiver 
of the award; failing to so do, the purchaser will forfeit his right to the 
timber left standing or unremoved and to his purchase money. 

14. Sixty days' notice must be given by the purchaser, through the 
local land office, to the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the 
proposed date of cutting and removal of the timber, so that an official 
may be designated to supervise such cutting and removal, as required 
by law. Upon application of purchasers, permits to erect temporary 
sawmills for the purpose of cutting or manufacturing timber purchased 
under this act may be granted by the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office, if not incompatible with public interests. Instructions as 
to disposition of tops, brush, and refuse, to be given through the super- 
visors in each case, must be strictly complied with, as a condition of 
said cutting and manufacture. 



112 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

15. The act provides that the timber shall be used in the State or 
Territory in which procured, and, consequently, it may not be exported 
therefrom. 

16. Eeceivers of public moneys will issue receipts in duplicate for 
moneys received in payment for timber, one of which will be given the 
purchaser, and the other will be transmitted to the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office in a special letter, reference being made to the 
letter from the Commissioner authorizing the sale, by date and initial, 
and with title of case as therein named. Eeceivers will deposit to the 
credit of the United States all such moneys received, specifying that 
the same are on account of sales of public timber on unreserved lands 
under the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat., 1093). A separate monthly 
account current (Form 4-105) and quarterly condensed account (Form 
4-104) will be made to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
with a statement in relation to the receipts under the act as above 
specified. 

17. Special instructions will be issued for the guidance of officials 
designated to examine and appraise timber, to supervise its cutting and 
removal, and for carrying out other requirements connected therewith. 

18. Section 2461, United States Revised Statutes, is still in force in 
the States and Territories herein named and its provisions may be 
enforced against any person, or persons, who cut or remove, or cause 
or procure to be cut or removed, or aid or assist or are employed in cutting 
or removing, any timber from public lands therein, except as allowed by 
law. 

19. The Secretary of the Interior reserves the right to prescribe such 
further restrictions as he may at any time deem necessary, or to revoke 
the privileges granted, in any cases wherein he has information that 
persons are abusing the same, or when it is necessary for the public 
good. 

20. The rules and regulations provided herein shall take effect April 
1, 1898, and all rules and regulations heretofore prescribed under said 
act of March 3, 1891, relating to the use of timber on public lands in 
the above-named States and Territories, are hereby revoked. 

RULES AND REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE USE OF TIMBER ON 
PUBLIC LANDS, MINERAL IN CHARACTER, IN CERTAIN STATES AND 
TERRITORIES. 

By virtue of the power vested in the Secretary of the Interior by the 
first section of the act of June 3, 1878, entitled "An act authorizing the 
citizens of Colorado, Nevada, and the Territories to fell and remove 
timber on the public domain for mining and domestic purposes," the 
following rules and regulations have been prescribed : 

First. The act applies only to the States of Colorado, Nevada, Utah, 
Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, and Montana, and to 
the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona, and other mineral districts 
of the United States not specially provided for. 

Second. The land from which timber is felled or removed under the 
provisions of the act must be known to be of a strictly mineral char- 
acter and that it is "not subject to entry under existing laws of the 
United States, except for mineral entry." 

Third. No person not a citizen or bona fide resident of a State, Terri- 
tory, or other mineral district, provided for in said act, is permitted to 
fell or remove timber from mineral lands therein. And no person, firm, 
or corporation felling or removing timber under this act shall sell or dis- 
pose of the same, or the lumber manufactured therefrom, to any other 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 113 

than citizens and bona fide residents of the State and Territory where 
such timber is cut, nor for any other purpose than for the legitimate use 
of said purchaser for the purposes mentioned in said act. 

Fourth. Every owner or manager of a sawmill or other person felling 
or removing timber under the provisions of this act shall keep a record 
of all timber so cut or removed, stating time when cut, names of parties 
cutting the same or in charge of the work, and describing the land from 
whence cut by legal subdivisions if surveyed, and as near as practicable 
if not surveyed, with a statement of the evidence upon which it is 
claimed that the land is mineral in character, and stating also the kind 
and quantity of lumber manufactured therefrom, together with the 
names of parties to whom any such timber or lumber is sold, dates of 
sale, and the purpose for which sold, and shall not sell or dispose of 
such timber or lumber made from such timber without taking from the 
purchaser a written agreement that the same shall not be used except 
for building, agricultural, mining, or other domestic purposes within the 
State or Territory; and every such purchaser shall further be required 
to file with said owner or manager a certificate, under oath, that he 
purchases such timber or lumber exclusively for his own use and for 
the purposes aforesaid. 

Fifth. The books, files, and records of all mill men or other persons 
so cutting, removing, and selling such timber or lumber, required to 
be kept as above mentioned, shall at all times be subject to the inspec- 
tion of the officers and agents of this Department. 

Sixth. Timber felled or removed shall be strictly limited to building, 
agricultural, mining, and other domestic purposes within the State or 
Territory where it grew. 

All cutting of such timber for use outside of the State or Territory 
where the same is cut and all removals thereof outside of the State or 
Territory where it is cut are forbidden. 

Seventh. No person will be permitted to fell or remove any growing 
trees of any kind whatsoever less than 8 inches in diameter. This 
will not be regarded as applicable to black or " lodge-pole" pine grow- 
ing in separate bodies upon mineral lands. (See order approved by the 
Secretary June 1, 1887.) 

Eighth. Persons felling or removing timber from public mineral lands 
of the United States must utilize all of each tree cut that can be profit- 
ably used, and must cut and remove the tops and brush or dispose of 
the same in such manner as to prevent the spread of forest fires. 

The act under which these rules and regulations were prescribed 
provides as follows : 

Sec. 3. Any person or persons who shall violate the provisions of this act, or any 
rules and regulations in pursuance thereof made by the Secretary of the Interior, 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined in any 
sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and to which may be added imprisonment 
for any term not exceeding six months. 

Ninth. These rules and regulations took effect September 1, 1886, 
and all existing rules and regulations theretofore prescribed under said 
act inconsistent herewith were thereby revoked. 

REGULATIONS CONCERNING- HOMESTEADS, RIGHTS OF WAY, 
TIMBER, ETC., IN ALASKA 

The following instructions, issued under the act of Congress approved 
May 14, 1898(30 Stat., 409; Appendix No. 77, p. 248), eu titled "An 
act extending the homestead laws and providing for right of way for 
3073 8 



114 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

railroads in the District of Alaska, and for other purposes," are for the 
guidance of the local officers in their administration of the law and for 
the information of those concerned in its provisions. 
Section 1 relates to 



and provides : 

Sec. 1. That the homestead land laws of the United States and the rights incident 
thereto, including the right to enter surveyed or unsurveyed lauds under provisions 
of law relating to the acquisition of t.tle through soldiers' additional homestead 
rights, are hereby extended to the District of Alaska, subject to such regulations as 
may be made by the Secretary of the Interior; and no indemnity, deficiency, or lieu 
lands pertaining to any land grant whatsoever originating outside of said district 
of Alaska shall be located within or taken from lands in said district: Provided, 
That no entry shall be allowed extending more than eighty rods along the shore of 
any navigable water, aud along such shore a space of at least eighty rods shall be 
reserved from entry between all such claims, and that nothing herein contained 
shall be so construed as to authorize entries to be made, or title to be acquired, to 
the shore of any navigable waters within said district: And it is further provided, 
That no homestead shall exceed eighty acres in extent. 

1. This section may be summarized as — 

First. Extending the homestead laws and the rights incident thereto 
to the District of Alaska ; 

Second. Extending to such district the right to enter surveyed lands 
under provisions of law relating to the acquisition of title through 
soldiers' additional homestead rights j 

Third. Granting the right to enter unsurveyed lands in said District 
under provisions of law relating to the acquisition of title through 
soldiers' additional homestead rights; 

Fourth. Prohibiting the location in said District of any indemnity, 
deficiency, or lieu lands pertaining to any land grant whatsoever origi- 
nating outside of said district: 

Fifth. Limiting each entry under this section to 80 rods along the 
shore of any navigable water, and reserving along such shore a space 
of at least 80 rods between all such claims, and prohibiting the entry 
or disposal of the shore (meaning land lying between high and low 
water mark) of any navigable waters within said district; and 

Sixth. Limiting each homestead in said District, whether soldiers' 
additional or otherwise, to 80 acres in extent. 

2. Full instructions with reference to the general homestead law and 
soldiers' additional homestead rights will be found elsewhere in this 
circular, and will, so far as applicable, govern the making of entries 
under this section. 

3. Existing homestead laws, while recognizing settlement upon unsur- 
veyed public lands do not authorize the entry or the patenting thereof 
until the public surveys have been regularly extended over them. This 
section, however, in terms authorizes the entry of unsurveyed lands 
in Alaska through the exercise of soldiers' additional homestead rights j 
but this does not apply to the general homestead right. 

4. The act makes no direct provision for the surveying of lands 
sought to be entered as soldiers' additional homestead claims, and 
therefore special surveys must be made of such lands in the manner 
provided for in section 10 of this act, at the expense of the applicant. 

5. A claim under this section, which extends to the shore line on any 
navigable stream, inlet, gulf, bay, or seashore, will be subject to the 
servitude provided for in that portion of section 10 which reads : U and a 
roadway sixty feet in width parallel to the shore line as near as may 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 115 

be practicable, shall be reserved for the use of the public as a high- 
way," and the lauds subject to such servitude will be computed as a 
part of the area entered. 

G. That part of sectiou 10 relating to the execution of affidavits, testi- 
mony, proofs, and other papers, anywhere in the United States before 
any court, judge, or other officer authorized to administer an oath, 
applies equally to this section. 

Sections 2 to 9, inclusive, relate to 

RIGHT OF WAY FOR RAILROADS, WAGON ROADS, AND TRAMWAYS 
IN THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA. 

These sections provide : 

Sec. 2. That the right of way through the lands of the United States in the Dis- 
trict of Alaska is hereby granted to any railroad company, duly organized under the 
laws of any State or Territory or by the Congress of the United States, which may 
hereafter tile for record with the Secretary of the Interior a copy of its articles of 
incorporation, and due proofs of its organization under the same, to the extent of 
one hundred feet on each side of the center line of said road; also the right to take 
from the lands of the United States adjacent to the line of said road, material, earth, 
stone, and timber necessary for the construction of said railroad; also the right to 
take for railroad uses, subject to the reservation of all minerals and coal therein, 
public lands adjacent to said right of way for station buildings, depots, machine 
shops, side tracks, turn-outs, water stations, and terminals, and other legitimate 
railroad purposes, not to exceed in amount twenty acres for each station, to the 
extent of oue station for each ten miles of its road, excepting at terminals and junc- 
tion points, which may include additional forty acres, to be limited on navigable 
waters to eighty rods on the shore line, and with the right to use such additional 
ground as may in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior be necessary where 
there are heavy cuts or fills : Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so 
construed as to give such railroad company, its lessees, grantees, or assigns the 
ownership or use of minerals, including coal, within the limits of its right of way, 
or of the lands hereby granted : Provided further, That all mining operations prose- 
cuted or undertaken within the limits of such right of way or of the lands hereby 
granted shall, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the 
Interior, be so conducted as not to injure or interfere with the property or opera- 
tions of the road over its said lands or right of way. And when such railway shall 
connect with any navigable stream or tide water such company shall have power to 
construct and maintain necessary piers and wharves for connection with water trans- 
portation, subject to the supervision of the Secretary of the Treasury: Provided, 
That nothing in this act contained shall be construed as impairing in any degree the 
title of any State that may hereafter be erected out of said district, or any part 
thereof, to tide lands and beds of any of its navigable waters, or the right of such 
State to regulate the use thereof, nor the right of the United States to resume pos- 
session of such lands, it being declared that all such rights shall continue to be held 
by the United States in trust for the people of any State or States which may here- 
after be erected out of said district. The term " navigable waters/ 7 as herein used, 
shall be held to include all tidal waters up to the Hue of ordinary high tide and all 
nontidal waters navigable in fact up to the line of ordinary high water mark. That 
all charges for the transportation of freight and passengers on railroads in the Dis- 
trict of Alaska shall be printed and posted as required by section six of an act to 
regulate commerce as amended on March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-mue, 
and such rates shall be subject to revision aud modification by the Secretary of the 
Interior. 

Sec. 3. That any railroad company whose right of way, or whose track or roadbed 
upon such right of way, passes through any canyon, pass, or defile shall not prevent 
any other railroad company from the use and occupancy of said canyon, pass, or 
defile for the purposes of its road, iu common with the road first located, or the 
crossing of other railroads at grade ; and the location of such right of way through 
any canyon, pass, or defile shall not cause the disuse of any tramway, wagon road, 
or other public highway now located therein, nor prevent the location through the 
same of any such tramway, wagon road, or highway where such tramway, wagon 
road, or highway may be necessary for the public accommodation; and where any 
change in the location of such tramway, wagon road, or highway is necessary to 
permit the passage of such railroad through any canyon, pass, or defile, said railroad 
company shall, before entering upon the ground occupied by such tramway, wagon 



116 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

road, or highway, cause the same to he reconstructed at its own expense in the most 
favorahle location, and in as perfect a manner as the original road or tramway: 
Provided, That such expenses shall he equitably divided between any number of 
railroad companies occupying and using the same canyon, pass, or defile, and that 
where the space is limited the United States district court shall require the road 
first constructed to allow any other railroad or tramway to pass over its track or 
tracks through such canyon, pass, or defile on such equitable basis as the said court 
may prescribe; and all shippers shall be entitled to equal accommodations as to tbe 
movement of their freight and without discrimination in favor of any person or cor- 
poration : Provided, That nothing herein shall be construed as depriving Congress of 
tbe right to regulate the charges for freight, passengers, and wharfage. 

Sec. 4. That where any company, the right of way to which is hereby granted, 
shall in the course of construction find it necessary to pass over private lands or 
possessory claims on lands of the United States, condemnation of a right of way 
across the same may be made in accordance with section three of the act entitled. 
"An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and 
telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the 
Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes, approved 
July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two,'" approved July second, eighteen hun- 
dred, and sixty-four : Provided further, That any such company, by filing with the 
Secretary of the Interior a preliminary actual survey and plat of its proposed route, 
shall have the right at any time within one year thereafter, to file the map and pro- 
file of definite location provided for in this act, and such preliminary survey and 
plat shall, during the said period of oue year from the time of filing the same, have 
the effect to render all the lands on which said preliminary survey and plat shall 
pass subject to such right of way. 

Sec. 5. That any company desiring to secure the benefits of this act shall, within 
twelve months after filing the preliminary map of location of its road as herein- 
before prescribed, whether upon surveyed or unsurveyed lands, file with the regis- 
ter of the land office for the district where such land is located a map and profile of 
at least a twenty-mile section of its road or a profile of its entire road if less than 
twenty miles, as definitely fixed, and shall thereafter each year definitely locate and 
file a map of such location as aforesaid of not less than twenty miles additional of 
its line of road until the entire road has been thus definitely located, and upon 
approval thereof by the Secretary of the Interior the same shall be noted upon the 
records of said office, and thereafter all such lands over which such right of way 
shall pass shall be disposed of subject to such right of way: Provided, That if any 
section of said road shall not be completed within one year after the definite loca- 
tion of said section so approved, or if the map of definite location be not filed within 
one year as herein required, or if the entire road shall not be completed within four 
years from the filing of the map of definite location, the rights herein granted shall 
be forfeited as to any such uncompleted section of said road, and thereupon shall 
revert to the United States without further action or declaration, the notation of 
such uncompleted section upon the records of the land office shall be canceled, and 
the reservations of such lands for the purposes of said right of way, stations, and 
terminals shall cease and become null and void without further action. 

Sec. 6. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to issue a permit, by 
instrument in writing, in conformity with and subject to tbe restrictions herein con- 
tained, unto any responsible person, company, or corporation, for a right of way over 
the public domain in said district, not to exceed one hundred feet in width, and ground 
for station and other necessary purposes, not to exceed five acres for each station for 
each five miles of road, to construct wagon roads and wire rope, aerial, or other tram- 
ways, and the privilege of taking all necessary material from the public domain in 
said, district for the construction of said wagon roads or tramways, together with the 
right, subject to supervision and at rates to be approved by said Secretary, to levy 
and collect toll or freight and passenger charges on passengers, animals, freight, or 
vehicles passing over the same for a period not exceeding twenty years, and said 
Secretary is also authorized to sell to the owner or owners of any such wagon road 
or tramway, upon the completion thereof, not to exceed twenty acres of public land 
at each terminus at one dollar aud twenty-five cents per acre, such lands when 
located at or near tide water not to extend more than forty rods in width along the 
shore line and the title thereto to be upon such expressed conditions as in his judg- 
ment may be necessary to protect the public interest, and all minerals, including 
coal, in such right of way or station grounds shall be reserved to the United States : 
Provided, That such lands may be located concurrently with the line of such road or 
tramway, and the plat of preliminary survey and the map of definite location shall 
be filed as in the case of railroads and subject to the same conditions and limitations : 
Provided further , That such rights of way and privileges shall only be enjoyed by or 
granted to citizens of the United States or companies or corporations organized under 
the laws of a State or Territory ; and such rights and privileges shall be held subject 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 117 

to the right of Congress to alter, amend, repeal, or giant equal rights to others on 
contiguous or parallel routes. And no right to construct a wagon road on which 
toll may be collected shall be granted unless it shall first be made to appear to the 
satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that the public couvenience requires the 
construction of such proposed road, and that the expense of making the same avail- 
able and convenient for public travel will not be less on an average than five hundred 
dollars per mile: Provided, That if the proposed liue of road in any case shall be 
located over any road or trail in common use for public travel, the Secretary of the 
Interior shall decline to grant such right of way if, in his opinion, the interests of 
the public would be injuriously affected thereby. Nor shall any right to collect toll 
upon any wagon road in said district be granted or inure to any person, corporation, 
or company until it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of said Secretary that 
at least an average of five hundred dollars per mile has been actually expended in 
constructing such road; and all persons are prohibited from collecting or attempting 
to collect toll over any wagon road in said district, unless such person or the com- 
pany or person for whom he acts shall at the time and place the collection is made 
or attempted to be made possess written authority, signed by the Secretary of the 
Interior, authorizing the collection and specifying the rates of toll: Provided, That 
accurate printed copies of said written authority from the Secretary of the Interior, 
including toll, freight, and passenger charges thereby approved, shall be kept con- 
stantly and conspicuously posted at each station where toll is demanded or collected. 
And any person, corporation, or company collecting or attempting to collect toll 
without such written authority from the Secretary of the Interior, or failing to keep 
the same posted as herein required, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on 
conviction thereof shall be fined for each offense not less than fifty dollars nor more 
than five hundred dollars, and in default of payment of such fine and costs of prose- 
cution shall be imprisoned in jail not exceeding ninety days, or until such fine and 
costs of prosecution shall have been paid. 

That any person, corporation, or company qualified to construct a wagon road or 
tramway under the provisions of this act that may heretofore have constructed not 
less than one mile of road, at a cost of not less than five hundred dollars per mile, 
or one-half mile of tramway at a cost of not less than five hundred dollars, shall 
have the prior right to apply for such right of way and for lands at stations and 
terminals and to obtain the same pursuant to the provisions of this act over and along 
the line hitherto constructed or actually being improved by the applicant, including 
wharves connected therewith. That if any party to whom license has been granted 
to construct such wagon road or tramway shall, for the period of one year, fail, 
neglect, or refuse to complete the same, the rights herein granted shdll be forfeited 
as to any such uncompleted section of said wagon road or tramway, and thereupon 
shall revert to the United States without further action or declaration, the notation 
of such uncompleted section upon the records of the land office shall be canceled, 
and the reservations of suck lands for the purposes of said right of way shall cease 
and become null and void without further action. And if such road or tramway 
shall not be kept in good condition for use, the Secretary of the Interior may pro- 
hibit the collection of toll thereon pending the making of necessary repairs. 

That all mortgages executed by any company acquiring a right ofway under this act, 
upon any portion of its road that may be constructed in said District of Alaska, shall 
be recorded with the Secretary of the Interior, and the record thereof shall be notice 
of their execution, and shall be alien upon all the rights and property of said com- 
pany as therein expressed, and such mortgage shall also be recorded in the office of 
the secretary of the District of Alaska and in the office of the secretary of the State 
or Territory wherein such company is organized : Provided, That all lawful claims 
of laborers, contractors, subcontractors, or material men, for labor performed or 
material furnished in the construction of the railroad, tramway, or wagon road shall 
be a first lien thereon and take precedence of any mortgage or other lien. 

Sec. 7. That this act shall not apply to any lands within the limits of any mili- 
tary, park, Indian, or other reservation unless such right of way shall be provided 
for by act of Congress. 

Sec. 8. That Congress hereby reserves the right at any time to alter, amend, or 
repeal this act or any part thereof; and the right of way herein and hereby author- 
ized shall not be assigned or transferred in any form whatever prior to the construc- 
tion and completion of at least one-fourth of the proposed mileage of such railroad, 
wagon road, or tramway, as indicated by the map of definite location, except by mort- 
gages or other liens that may be given or secured thereon to aid in the construction 
thereof: Prodded, That where, within ninety days after the approval of this act, 
proof is made to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that actual sur- 
veys, evidenced by designated monuments, were made, and the line of a railroad, 
wagon road, or tramway located thereby, or that actual construction was com- 
menced on the line of any railroad, wagon road, or tramway prior to January 
twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, the rights to inure hereunder shall, 



118 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

if the terms of this act are complied with as to such railroad, wagon road, or tram- 
way, relate hack to the date when such survey or construction was commenced; and 
in all conflicts relative to the right of way or other privilege of this act the person, 
company, or corporation having heen first in time in actual survey or construction, 
as the case may he, shall he deemed first in right. 

Sec. 9. That the map and profile of definite location of such railroad, wagon road, 
or tramway, to he filed as hereinbefore provided, shall, when the line passes over 
surveyed lands, indicate the location of the road hy reference to section or other 
established survey corners, and where such line passes over unsurveyed lauds the 
location thereon shall be indicated by courses and distances and by references to 
natural objects and permanent monuments in such manner that the location of the 
road may be readily determined by reference to descriptions given in connection with 
said profile map. 

7. The grant made by these sections does not convey an estate in fee in 
the lands used for right of way or lands used for station and terminal 
facilities. The grant is merely of a right of use for the necessary and 
legitimate purposes of the roads, the fee remaining in the United States, 
except as to lands authorized to be sold under section 6 by the Secre- 
tary of the Interior "upon such expressed conditions as in his judg- 
ment may be necessary to protect the public interests." The nature of 
these conditions will depend upon the public necessities and will be 
governed by the particular circumstances of each case. 

8. All persons entering public lands to part of which a right of way 
has attached take the same subject to such right of way, the latter 
being computed as a part of the area of the tract entered. 

9. Whenever any right of way shall pass over private land or pos- 
sessory claims on lands of the United States, condemnation of the right 
of way across the same may be made in accordance with the provisions 
of section 4. 

INCORPORATED COMPANIES. 

10. Any incorporated company desiring to obtain the benefits of 
these sections is required to file the following papers and maps : 

First. A copy of its articles of incorporation duly certified to by the 
proper officer of the company under its corporate seal, or by the secre- 
tary of the State or Territory where organized. 

Second. A copy of the State or Territorial law under which the com- 
pany was organized, with the certificate of the governor or secretary 
of the State or Territory that the same is the existing law. 

Third. When said law directs that the articles of association or other 
papers connected with the organization be filed with any State or Ter- 
ritorial officer, the certificate of such officer that the same have been 
filed according to law, with the date of the filing thereof. 

No forms are prescribed for the above portion of the proofs required, 
as each case must be governed to some extent by the laws of the State 
or Territory. 

Fourth. The official statement, under seal of the proper officer, that 
the organization has been completed ; that the company is fully author- 
ized to proceed with the construction of the road according to the exist- 
ing law of the State or Territory where organized. (Form 1, p. 302.) 

Fifth. An affidavit by the president, under the seal of the company, 
showing the names and designations of its officers at the date of the 
filing of the proofs. (Form 2, p. 302.) 

Sixth. If certified copies of the existing laws regarding such corpora- 
tions, and of new laws as passed from time to time, be forwarded to 
this office by the governor or secretary of any State or Territory, a 
company organized in such State or Territory may file, in lieu of the 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 119 

requirements of the second subdivision of this paragraph, a certificate 
of the governor or secretary of the State or Territory that no change 
has been made since a given date, not later than that of the laws last 
forwarded. 

Seventh. Maps, field notes, and other papers as hereinafter required. 

INDIVIDUALS OR ASSOCIATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS. 

11. Individuals or associations of individuals making applications 
for a permit, under section 6, for tramways or wagon roads are required 
to file evidence of citizenship. In the case of associations an affidavit 
must be filed by the principal officer thereof, giving a list of the mem- 
bers and stating that the list includes all of the members. Evidence 
of citizenship must be furnished for each member of the association. 
Individuals and associations will also be required to file the maps, field 
notes, and other papers hereinafter required. 

12. All maps and plats must be drawn on tracing linen, in duplicate, 
and must be strictly conformable to the field notes of the survey 
thereof wherever such surveys have been made. The word u profile" as 
used in the act is understood to intend a map of alignment. No profile 
of grades will be required. 

13. The maps should show any other road crossed or with which 
connection is made, and whenever possible the station number on the 
survey thereof at the point of intersection. All such intersecting roads 
must be represented in ink of a different color from that used for the 
line for which the applicant asks right of way. Field notes of the sur- 
veys should be written along the line on the map. If the map should 
be too much crowded to be easily read, then duplicate field notes 
should be filed separate from the map and in such form that they may 
be folded for filing. In such case it will be necessary to place on the 
map only a sufficient number of station numbers to make it convenient 
to follow the field notes on the map. Station numbers should also be 
given on the map in all cases where changes of numbering occur and 
where known lines of survey, public or otherwise, are crossed, with 
distance to the nearest permanent monument or other mark on such 
line. The map must show also the lines of reference of initial, termi- 
nal, and intermediate points, with their courses and distances. 

14. Typewritten field notes, with clear carbon copies, are preferred, 
as they expedite the examination of applications. All monuments and 
other marks with which connections are made should be fully described, 
so that they may be easily found. The field notes must be so complete 
that the line may be retraced on the ground. On account of the condi- 
tions existing in Alaska, surveys based wholly on the magnetic needle 
will not be accepted. In that case a true meridian should be estab- 
lished, as accurately as possible, at the initial point. It should be per- 
manently marked and fully described. The survey should be based 
thereon and checked by a meridian similarly fixed at the terminal point 
and, when the line is a long one, by intermediate meridians at proper 
intervals. On account of the rapid convergence of the meridians in 
these latitudes, such intermediate meridians should be established at 
such intervals as to avoid large discrepancies in bearings. It will 
probably be found preferable to run by transit deflections from a per- 
manently established line, with frequent and readily recoverable refer- 
ence lines permanently marked; and in such surveys occasional true 
bearings should be stated, at least approximately. On all lines of rail- 
road the 10-mile sections should be indicated and numbered, and on 



120 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

maps of tramways and wagon roads the 5-mile sections shall likewise 
be indicated and numbered. 

15. The maps, field notes, and accompanying papers should be filed 
in the local land office for the district where the proposed right of way 
is located. 

16. Connections should be made with other surveys, public or private, 
whenever possible; also with mineral monuments and other known and 
established marks. When a sufficient number of such points are not 
available to make such connections at least every 6 miles, the surveyor 
must make connection with natural objects or permanent monuments. 

17. Along the line of survey, at least once in every mile, permanent 
and easily recoverable monuments or marks must be set and connected 
therewith, in such positions that the construction of the road will not 
interfere with them. The locations thereof must be indicated on the 
maps. All reference points must be fully described in the field notes, 
so that they may be relocated, and the exact point used for reference 
indicated. 

18. The termini of a line of road should be fixed by reference of course 
and distance to a permanent monument or other definite mark. The 
initial point of the survey or station, terminal, and junction grounds 
should be similarly referred. The maps, field notes, engineer's affidavit, 
and applicant's certificate (Forms 3 and 4, pp. 302-303) should each 
show these connections. 

19. The engineer's affidavit and applicant's certificate must be written 
on the map and must both designate by termini (as in the preceding 
paragraph) and length in miles and decimals the line of route for which 
right of way application is made (see Forms 3 and 4, pp. 302-303). Sta- 
tion, terminal, or junction grounds must be described by initial point 
(as in the preceding paragraph) and area in acres (see Forms 7 and 8, 
p. 304), when they are located on surveyed land, and the smallest 
legal subdivision in which they are located should be stated. No 
changes or additions are allowable in the substance of any forms, 
except when the essential facts differ from those assumed therein. 
When the applicant is an individual the word "applicant" should be 
used instead of u company," and such other changes made as are 
necessary on this account. 

20. Where additional width is desired for railroad right of way on 
account of heavy cuts or fills, the additional right of way desired should 
be stated, the reason therefor fully shown, the limits of the additional 
right of way exactly designated, and any other information furnished 
that may be necessary to enable the Secretary of the Interior to con- 
sider the case before giving it his approval. 

21. The preliminary map authorized by the proviso of section 4 will 
not be required to comply so strictly with the foregoing instructions as 
maps of definite location, but it is to be observed that they must be 
based upon an actual survey, and that the more fully they comply 
with these regulations the better they will serve their object, which is 
to indicate the lands to be crossed by the final line and to preserve the 
company's prior right until the approval of its maps of definite loca- 
tion. Unless the preliminary map and field notes are such that the 
line of survey can be retraced from them on the ground they will be 
valueless for the purpose of preserving the company's rights. The 
preliminary map and field notes should be in duplicate, and should 
be filed in the local land office, in order that proper notations may be 
made on the records as notice to intending settlers and subsequent 
applicants for the right of way. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 121 

22. The scale of maps showing the line of route should be 2,000 feet 
to au inch. The maps may, however, be drawn to a larger scale when 
necessary; but the scale must not be so greatly increased as to make 
the map inconveniently large for handling. In most cases, by furnish- 
ing separate held notes, an increase of scale can be avoided. Plats of 
station, terminal, and junction grounds, etc., should be drawn on a scale 
of 400 feet to an inch, and must be filed separately from the line of 
route. Such plats should show enough of the line of route to indicate 
the position of the tract with reference thereto. 

23. Plats of station, terminal, and junction grounds must be prepared 
in accordance with the directions for maps of lines of route. When- 
ever they are located on or near navigable waters the shore line must 
be shown, and also the boundaries of any other railroad grounds or 
other claims located on or near navigable waters within a distance of 
80 rods from any point of the tract applied for. 

24. All applications for permits made under section 6 of this act 
should state whether it is i)roposed ^o collect toll on the proposed 
wagon road or tramway; and, in case of wagon roads, the application 
must be accompanied by satisfactory evidence, corroborated by affi- 
davit, tending to show that the public convenience requires the con- 
struction of the proposed road, and that the expense of making the 
same available and convenient for public travel will not be less, on an 
average, than $500 per mile. In all cases, if the proposed line of road 
shall be located over any road or trail in common use for public travel, 
a satisfactory statement, corroborated by affidavit, must be submitted 
with the application, showing that the interests of the public will not 
be injuriously affected thereby. 

25. When maps are filed the local officers will make such pencil 
notations on their records as will indicate the location of the proposed 
right of way as nearly as possible. They should note that the applica- 
tion is pending, giving the date of filing and name of applicant. They 
must also indorse on each map and other paper the date of filing, over 
their written signature, transmitting them promptly to the General 
Land Office. 

26. Upon the approval of a map of definite location or station plat 
by the Secretary of the Interior, the duplicate copy will be sent to the 
local officers, who will make such notations of the approval on their 
records, in ink, as will indicate the location of the right of way as 
accurately as possible. 

27. When the road is constructed, an affidavit of the engineer and 
certificate of the applicant (Forms 5 and 6, p. 303) should be filed 
in the local land office in duplicate, for transmission to the General 
Land Office. In case of deviations from the map previously approved, 
whether before or after construction, there must be filed new maps and 
field notes in full, as herein provided, bearing proper forms, changed 
to agree with the facts in the case; and the location must be described 
in the forms as the amended survey and the amended definite location. 
In such cases the applicant must file a relinquishment, under seal, of 
all rights under the former approval as to the portions amended; said 
relinquishment to take effect when the map of amended definite location 
is approved by the Secretary of the Interior. 

28. Unless the proper evidence of construction is filed within the 
time prescribed by the act for the construction of each section of 
the road, appropriate steps will be taken looking to the cancellation 
of the approval of the right of way and the notations thereof on the 
records. 



122 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

CHARGES FOR TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS AND FREIGHT. 

29. A printed copy of all charges for the transportation of freight and 
passengers on right-of-way railroads in Alaska shall be forwarded to 
the Commissioner of the General Land Office for submission to the 
Secretary of the Interior for his consideration and approval. 

In the case of a wagon road or tramway built under permit issued 
under section 6 of this act, upon which it is proposed to collect toll, a 
printed schedule of the rates for freight and passengers should also be 
filed with the Commissioner of the General Land Office for submission 
to the Secretary of the Interior for his consideration and approval at 
least sixty days before the road is to be opened to traffic, in order to 
allow a sufficient time for consideration, inasmuch as by section 6 it is 
made a misdemeanor to collect toll without written authority from the 
Secretary of the Interior. In the case of a wagon road satisfactory 
evidence, corroborated by affidavit, must be submitted with said sched- 
ule, showing that at least an average of $500 per mile has been actually 
expended in constructing such road. These schedules must be sub- 
mitted in duplicate, one copy of which, bearing the approval of the 
Secretary of the Interior, will be returned to the applicant if found 
satisfactory. Said schedules shall be plainly printed in large type. 

Section 10 relates to 

ENTRIES FOR TRADE, MANUFACTURE, OR OTHER PRODUCTIVE 
INDUSTRY, IN THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA, 

and provides — 

Sec. 10. That any citizen of the United States twenty-one years of age, or any 
association of such citizens, or any corporation incorporated under the laws of the 
United States or of any State or Territory now authorized by law to hold lands in 
the Territories, hereafter in the possession of and occupying public lands in the Dis- 
trict of Alaska in good faith for the purposes of trade, manufacture, or other pro- 
ductive industry, may each purchase one claim only, not exceeding eighty acres, of 
such land for any one person, association, or corporation, at two dollars and fifty 
cents per acre, upon submission of proof that said, area embraces improvements of 
the claimant and is needed in the prosecution of such trade, manufacture, or other 
productive industry, such tract of land not to include mineral or coal lands, and 
ingress and egress shall be reserved to the public on the waters of all streams, 
whether navigable or otherwise : Provided, That no entry shall be allowed under 
this act on lands abutting on navigable water of more than eighty rods: Provided 
further, That there shall be reserved by the United States a space of eighty rods in 
width between tracts sold or entered under the provisions of this act on lands 
abutting on any navigable stream, inlet, gulf, bay, or seashore, and that the Secre- 
tary of the Interior may grant the use of such reserved lands abutting on the water 
front to any citizen or association of citizens, or to any corporation incorporated 
under the laws of the United States or under the laws of any State or Territory, 
for landings and wharves, with the provision that the public shall have access to 
and proper use of such wharves and landings at ieasonable rates of toll, to be pre- 
scribed by said Secretary, and a roadway sixty feet in width, parallel to the shore 
li-oe as near as may be practicable, shall be reserved for the use of the public as a 
highway: Provided further, That in case more than one person, association, or 
corporation shall claim the same tract of land, the person, association, or corpora- 
tion having the prior claim, by reason of actual possession and continued occupation 
in good faith, shall be entitled to purchase the same, but where several persons are 
or may be so possessed of parts of the tract applied for the same shall be awarded to 
them according to their respective interests: Provided further, That all claims sub- 
stantially square in form and lawfully initiated prior to January twenty-first, 
eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, by survey or otherwise, under sections twelve 
and thirteen of the act approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one 
(Twenty-sixth Statutes at Large, chapter five hundred and sixty-one), may be per- 
fected and patented upon compliance with the provisions of said act, but subject to 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 123 

the requirements and provisions of this act, except as to area, but in no case shall 
such entry extend along the water front for more than one hundred and sixty rods: 
And prodded further. That the Secretary of the Interior shall reserve for the use of 
the natives of Alaska suitable tracts of land along the water front of any stream, 
inlet, bay, or seashore for landing places for canoes and other craft used by such 
natives: Prorxded, That the Annette, Pribilof Islands, and the islands leased or 
occupied for the propagation of foxes be excepted from the operation of this act. 

That all affidavits, testimony, proofs, and other papers provided for by this act and 
by said act of March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, or by any departmental 
or Executive regulation thereunder, by depositions or otherwise, under commission 
from the register and receiver of the land office, which may have been or may here- 
after be taken and sworn to anywhere in the United States, before any court, judge, 
or other officer authorized by law to administer an oath, shall be admitted in evidence 
as if taken before the register and receiver of the proper local land office. And 
thereafter such proof, together with a certified copy of the field notes and plat of the 
survey of the claim, shall be filed in the office of the surveyor-general of the District 
of Alaska, and if such survey ami plat shall be approved by him, certified copies 
thereof, together with the claimant's application to purchase, shall be filed in the 
United States land office in the land district in which the claim is situated, where- 
upon, at the expense of the claimant, the register of such land office shall cause 
notice of such application to be published for at least sixty days in a newspaper of 
general circulation published nearest the claim within the District of Alaska, and 
the applicant shall at the time of filing such field notes, plat, and application to 
purchase in the land office as aforesaid cause a copy of such plat, together with the 
application to purchase, to be posted upon the claim, and such plat and application 
shall be kept posted in a conspicuous place on such claim continuously for at least 
sixty days, and during such period of posting and publication or within thirty days 
thereafter any person, corporation, or association having or asserting any adverse 
interest in or claim to the tract of land, or any part thereof, sought to be purchased, 
may file in the land office where such application is pending, under oath, an adverse 
claim setting forth the nature and extent thereof, and such adverse claimant shall, 
within sixty days after the filing of such adverse claim, begin action to quiet title in a 
court of competent jurisdiction within the District of Alaska, and thereafter no patent 
shall issue for such claim until the final adjudication of the rights of the parties, and 
such patent shall then be issued in conformity with the final decree of the court. 

30. A somewhat similar right of purchase was granted by sections 
12 and 13 of the act of March 3, 1891, and the section now under con- 
sideration gives recognition to claims lawfully initiated under that 
act prior to January 21, 1898, and provides for perfecting and patenting 
them upon compliance with the provisions of that act, but subject to 
the requirements and provisions of this act, except as to area, and also 
subject to a limitation of 160 rods in extent along a water front. 

31. The provisions of section 10 of this act being largely in conflict 
with sections 12 and 13 of the act of March 3, 1891, and it being appar- 
ent that section 10 of this act was intended to fully cover with new 
legislation the held theretofore occupied by sections 12 and 13 of the 
former act, it follows that section 10 of this act must be treated as 
repealing those sections, subject only to the saving clause respecting 
claims initiated thereunder before January 21, 1898. 

32. Under the law of 1891 the record claim was initiated by an appli- 
cation made to the surveyor-general for a survey of the tract occupied 
and used. An estimate was prepared by said officer of the cost of such 
survey, and upon deposit of that amount the survey was ordered to be 
made by a deputy surveyor, and was required to be approved by the 
surveyor-general and the Commissioner of the General Land Office 
before purchase could be allowed. Under the present law, as in the 
case of mining claims, the claimant, at his own expense, can procure 
the making of the survey without first making application to the 
surveyor general, but the survey when made is to be submitted to and 
approved by the surveyor-general. 

33. The statute does not directly state by whom the survey is to be 
made, but to insure official responsibility for the work, and the better 



124 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

to protect the interests of all concerned, the surveys must be made by 
deputy surveyors, who will be appointed in sufficient number by the 
surveyor-general on satisfactory showing of their fitness, and who will 
each be required to enter into a bond in the penal sum of $5,000 for 
the faithful execution, according to law and instructions, of all sur- 
veys made in pursuance of his appointment as deputy surveyor. 
Upon appointment the deputy must take the oath of office required by 
section 2223, Eevised Statutes. 

3 1 . Upon completion of the survey the deputy should certify to the 
field notes and plat, which must then be filed with the surveyor- 
general, together with proof, which may consist of affidavits duly cor- 
roborated by two witnesses, showing: 

First. The actual use and occupancy of the land applied for for the 
purposes of trade, manufacturing, or other productive industry; that 
it embraces the applicant's improvements and is needed in the prose- 
cution of the enterprise. 

Second. The date when the land was first so occupied. 

Third. The character and value of improvements thereon, and the 
nature of the trade, business, or productive industry conducted thereon. 

Fourth. That the tract applied for does not include mineral or coal 
lands, and is essentially nonmineral in character. 

Fifbh.^That no portion of said land is occupied or reserved for any 
purpose'by the United States, or occupied or claimed by any natives of 
Alaska, or occupied as a town site or missionary station, or reserved 
from sale, and that the tract does not include improvements made by 
or in possession of another person, association, or corporation. 

Sixth. If the land abuts on any navigable stream, inlet, gulf, bay, or 
seashore, that it is not within 80 rods of any tract sold or entered under 
the provisions of this act. Lands patented or to which a right to pat- 
ent had fully accrued under the act of March 3, 1891, are not "tracts 
sold or entered under the provisions of this act' 7 within the meaning of 
this provision. 

In the completion under this act of entries initiated prior to Janu- 
ary 21, 1898, under the act of March 3, 1891, this showing will not be 
required. 

The deputy surveyor in certifying each survey abutting upon navi- 
gable waters must state the name and location of every claim within 
80 rods of the claim surveyed. 

Seventh. If the application is made for the benefit of an individual, 
he must prove his citizenship and age. 

Eighth. If the application is made for the benefit of an association, 
it must so appear, and the citizenship and age of each member thereof 
be shown. 

Ninth. If the application is made for the benefit of a corporation, the 
incorporation must be established by the certificate of the secretary of 
the State or Territory or other officer having custody of the record of 
incorporation, and it must be further shown that such corporation is 
authorized by the law under which it is incorporated to hold lands in 
the Territories. 

35. All affidavits may be made before the register or receiver of the 
land office in the district in which the land is situated, or anywhere in 
the United States before any court judge or other officer authorized by 
law to administer an oath. 

36. If the survey is approved by the surveyor-general, certified copies 
of the field notes and plat, together with the original proof filed by 
applicant to establish his claim, must be filed in the local land office 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 125 

with his application to purchase. Thereupon, at the expense of the 
claimant (who must furnish the agreement of the publisher to hold the 
applicant for patent alone responsible for charges of publication), 
the register of such local land office shall cause notice of the applica- 
tion to purchase to be published for a period of at least sixty days in a 
paper of established character and general circulation, to be by him 
designated as being the newspaper published nearest the land. Whether 
published in a weekly, semiweekly, or daily newspaper, the notice must 
appear in each and every issue of the paper for a period of sixty days, 
excluding the day of the first publication in computing the period of 
sixty days; the applicant must also, during the period of publication, 
cause a copy of the plat, duly authenticated, together with a copy of 
the application to purchase, to be posted in a conspicuous place upon 
the claim for at least sixty days. The register shall cause a copy of the 
application to purchase to be posted in his office during the period of 
publication. 

37. During the period of posting and publication, or within thirty 
days thereafter, any person, corporation, or association having or assert- 
ing an adverse interest in or claim to the tract of land, or any part 
thereof, sought to be purchased, may file in the land office where such 
application is pending, under oath, an adverse claim, setting forth the 
nature and extent thereof; and such adverse claimant shall, within 
sixty days after the filing of such adverse claim, begin action to quiet 
title in a court of competent jurisdiction within the District of Alaska; 
in which event no further action will be taken in the local office upon 
the application to purchase until the final adjudication of the rights of 
the parties in the court. 

38. If at the expiration of the period prescribed therefor no adverse 
claim is filed and no other sufficient objection appears to the proposed 
purchase, cash certificate will issue for the land in the name of the 
applicant upon his furnishing proof of publication and posting of the 
notice as required and making due payment for the land. This proof 
shall consist of the affidavit of the publisher or foreman of the news- 
paper employed that the notice (a copy of which must be attached to 
the affidavit) was published for the required period in the regular and 
entire issue of every number of the paper during the period of publica- 
tion, in the newspaper proper and not in the supplement. Proof of 
posting on the claim will consist of the affidavits of the applicant and 
two witnesses, who of their own knowledge know that the plat of sur- 
vey and application to purchase were posted as required and remained 
so posted during the required period. The register should certify to 
the posting of the notice in a conspicuous place in his office during the 
period of publication. 

39. A failure to make due payment for the land for a period of three 
months after the final adjudication of the rights of the parties by the 
court or after the period for filing an adverse claim shall have expired, 
without any such claim being filed, will be deemed an abandonment of 
the application to purchase. 

40. Upon a proper showing, duly corroborated, that any claim does 
not conform to the requirement of the law, a hearing will be ordered in 
the premises. 

41. A roadway 60 feet in width, parallel to the shore line as near as 
may be practicable, is reserved for the use of the public as a highway. 
" Shore line " here means high-water line. This reservation occurs in 
the proviso relating to the reservation between claims abutting on navi- 
gable waters ; but since it is its purpose to reserve a roadway for public 



126 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

use as a highway along the shore line of navigable waters, it is held to 
relate to the lands entered or purchased under this act, as well as to 
the reserved lands ; otherwise it would serve little or no purpose. This 
reservation will not, however, prevent the location and survey of a claim 
up to the shore line, for in such case the claim will be subject to this 
servitude and the area in the highway will be computed as a part of 
the area entered and purchased. 

42. It is not deemed advisable at this time to prescribe any fixed 
form of application for the use of any of the reserved lands betweeu 
claims entered or purchased under this act, excepting that — 

(1) The citizenship of the applicants or association of applicants 
must be shown, and in the case of a corporation the same showing- 
must be made as is required by paragraph under section 2, granting 
right of way for railroads. 

(2) The location of the landings or wharves must be accurately 
described on a map or diagram with reference to claims on either side. 

(3) The use of such lands is limited to landings and wharves, and 
all rates of toll to be paid by the public must be submitted for 
approval by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Section 11 relates to — 

THE TIMBER ON PUBLIC LANDS IN THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA, 

and provides : 

Sec. 11. That the Secretary of the Interior, under such rules and regulations as he 
may prescribe, may cause to be appraised the timber or any part thereof upon public 
lauds in the District of Alaska, and may from time to time sell so much thereof as 
he may deem proper for not less than the appraised value thereof, in such quantities 
to each purchaser as he shall prescribe, to be used iu the District of Alaska, but not 
for export therefrom. And such sales shall at all times be limited to actual necessi- 
ties for consumption in the district from year to year, and payments for such timber 
shall be made to the receiver of public moneys of the local land office of the land dis- 
trict in which said timber may be sold, under such rules and regulations as the Sec- 
retary of the Interior may prescribe, and the moneys arising therefrom shall be 
accounted for by the receiver of such land office to the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office in a separate account, and shall be covered into the Treasury. The Sec- 
retary of the Interior may permit, under regulations to be prescribed by him, the 
use of timber found upon the public lands in said District of Alaska by actual set- 
tlers, residents, individual miners, and prospectors for minerals, for firewood, fenc- 
ing, buildings, mining, prospecting, and for domestic purposes, as may actually be 
needed by such persons for such purposes. 

43. While sales of timber are optional, and the Secretary of the 
Interior may exercise his discretion at all times as to the necessity or 
advisability of any sale, petitions from responsible persons for the sale 
of timber in particular localities will be received by this Department 
for consideration. 

Such petition must describe the land upon which the timber stands, 
as definitely as possible by natural landmarks ; the character of the 
country, whether rough, steep, or mountainous, agricultural or mineral, 
or valuable chiefly for its forest growth ; and state whether or not the 
removal of the timber would injuriously affect the public interests. If 
any of the timber is dead, estimate the quantity in feet, board measure, 
with the value, and state whether killed by fire or other cause. Of 
the live timber, state the different kinds and estimate the quantity of 
each kind in trees per acre. Estimate the average diameter of each 
kind of timber, and estimate the number of trees of each kind per acre 
above the average diameter. State the number of trees of each kind 
it is desired to have offered for sale, with an estimate of the number of 
feet, board measure, therein, and an estimate of the value of the timber 
as it stands. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 127 

44. Before any sale is authorized the timber will be examined and 
appraised. Notice thereof will be given by publication by the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office. 

45. The time and place of tiling- bids and other information for a cor- 
rect understanding of the terms of each sale will be given by published 
notices or otherwise. Timber is not to be sold for less than the 
appraised value. The Commissioner of the General Land Office must 
approve all sales, and he may make allotment of quantity to any bidder 
or bidders if he deems proper. The right is also reserved to reject any 
or all bids. A reasonable cash deposit, to accompany each bid, will be 
required. 

46. Within thirty days after notice to a bidder of an award of timber 
to him payment must be made in full to the receiver for the timber so 
awarded ; or equal payments therefor may be made in thirty, sixty, 
and ninety days from date of such notice, at the option of the pur- 
chaser. The purchaser must have in hand the receipt of the receiver 
for each payment before he will be allowed to cut, remove, or otherwise 
dispose of the timber covered by that payment. The timber must all 
be cut and removed within one year from the date of payment therefor; 
failing to so do, the purchaser will forfeit his right to the timber left 
standing or unremoved and to his purchase money: Provided, That 
the limit of one year herein named may be extended by the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office, in his discretion, upon good and 
sufficient reasons being shown. 

47. Notice must be given by the purchaser to the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office of the proposed date of cutting and removal 
of the timber, so that, if practicable, an official may be designated to 
supervise such cutting and removal. Upon application of purchasers, 
permits to erect temporary sawmills for the purpose of cutting or 
manufacturing timber purchased under this act may be granted by the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office, if not incompatible with the 
public interests. 

48. No timber taken from the public lands and sold as above pre- 
scribed may be exported from the District of Alaska. 

49. Special instructions will be issued for the guidance of officials 
designated to examine and appraise timber, to supervise its cutting 
and removal, and for carrying out other requirements connected there- 
with. 

50. Actual settlers, residents, individual miners, and prospectors for 
minerals may procure, free of charge, from unoccupied unreserved public 
lands in Alaska, for firewood, fencing, buildings, mining, prospecting, 
and for domestic purposes, so much timber as may be actually needed 
by such persons, for individual use, to an extent not exceeding, in 
stumpage valuation, $100 in any one year. It is not necessary to secure 
permission from the Department to take timber from public lands as 
allowed in this paragraph. The exercise of such privilege is, however, 
subject at all times to supervison by the Department, with a view to 
restriction or prohibition if deemed necessary. The uses specified in 
this paragraph constitute the only purposes for which timber may be 
taken, free of charge, from public lands in Alaska. 

51. In cases arising under the preceding paragraph in which the 
parties needing the timber are not in a position to procure it from the 
public lands themselves, it is allowable for them to secure the cutting, 
removing, sawing, or other manufacture of the timber through the 
medium of others, agreeing with the parties thus acting as their agents 
direct in taking or otherwise handling the timber that they shall be 

•paid a reasonable amount to cover their time and labor expended and 



128 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

all legitimate expenses incurred in connection therewith exclusive of 
any charge for the timber itself. 

52. Section 2461, United States Eevised Statutes, is in force in the 
District of Alaska, and its provisions may be enforced against any per- 
son or persons who cut or remove, or cause or procure to be cut or 
removed, or aid or assist or are employed in cutting or removing, any 
timber from public lands therein, except as allowed by law. 

Section 12 authorizes the establishment of — 

LAND DISTRICTS WITHIN THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA, 

and provides : 

Sec. 12. That the President is authorized and empowered, in his discretion, by- 
Executive order from time to time to establish or discontinue land districts in the 
District of Alaska, and to define, modify, or change the boundaries thereof, and 
designate or change the location of any land office therein ; and he is also authorized 
and empowered to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a 
register for each land district he may establish and a receiver of public moneys 
therefor; and the register and receiver appointed for such district shall, during 
their respective terms of office, reside at the place designated for the land office. 
That the registers and receivers of public moneys in the land districts of Alaska 
shall each receive an annual salary of one thousand five hundred dollars and the 
fees provided by law for like officers in the State of Oregon, not to exceed, includ- 
ing such salary and fees, a total annua] compensation of three thousand dollars for 
each of said officers. 

Districts have been established with land offices at Sitka, Rampart 
City, Peavy, and Circle. 

Section 13 accords certain — 

MINING: RIGHTS WITHIN THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA TO NATIVE-BORN 
CITIZENS OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA, 

and provides : 

Sec. 13. That native-born citizens of the Dominion of Canada shall be accorded 
in said District of Alaska the same mining rights and privileges accorded to citizens 
of the United States in British Columbia and the Northwest Territory by the laws 
of the Dominion of Canada or the local laws, rules, and regulations; but no greater 
rights shall be thus accorded than citizens of the United States or persons who have 
declared their intention to become such may enjoy in said District of Alaska; and 
the Secretary of the Interior shall from time to time promulgate and enforce rules 
and regulations to carry this provision into effect. 

53. By the laws of the Dominion of Canada citizens of the United 
States are, with all other persons over 18 years of age, permitted to 
lease mineral lands in British Columbia and the Northwest Territory 
upon the payment of a certain royalty to the general government, but 
the laws of that Dominion do not authorize the purchase of mineral 
lands in British Columbia or the Northwest Territory. 

54. The existing laws of the United States do not make any provi- 
sion for the leasing of mineral lands in Alaska either to citizens of 
the United States or to others, but they do provide for and authorize 
the purchase of such lands in Alaska by our own citizens. 

55. Since this section accords to native-born citizens of Canada "the 
same mining rights and privileges" accorded to citizens of the United 
States in British Columbia and the Northwest Territory by the laws of 
the Dominion of Canada, and since under the laws of the Dominion of 
Canada the only mining rights and privileges accorded to citizens of 
the United States are those of leasing mineral lands upon the payment 
of a stated royalty, and since the laws of the United States do not 
accord to its own citizens the right or privilege of leasing mineral lands 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 129 

in Alaska, and since tins section also provides that "no greater rights 
shall be thus accorded" to citizens of the Dominion of Canada "than 
citizens of the United States or persons who have declared their inten- 
tion to become such may enjoy in such District of Alaska," it results 
that for the time being this section is inoperative. 

The concluding section, 14, refers to matters under the jurisdiction 
of the Treasury Department, as to which nothing need be said in this 
connection. It reads as follows: 

Sec. 14. That under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the 
Treasury the privilege of entering goods, wares, and merchandise in bond or of 
placing them in bonded warehouses at any of the ports in the District of Alaska, and 
of withdrawing the same for exportation to anyplace in British Columbia or the 
Northwest Territory without payment of duty, is hereby granted to the government 
of the Dominion of Canada and its citizens or citizens of the United States and to 
persons who have declared their intention to becomo such whenever and so long as 
it shall appear to the satisfaction of the President of the United States, who shall 
ascertain and declare the fact by proclamation, that corresponding privileges have 
been and are being granted by the government of the Dominion of Canada in respect 
of goods, wares, and merchandise passing through the territory of the Dominion of 
Canada to any point in the District of Alaska from any point in said District. 

TOWN SITES IN ALASKA. 

The act of May 14, 1898, makes no provision for entry of town sites 
in Alaska, so that so much of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat., 1095; 
Appendix No. 44, p. 221), as relates to town-site entries remains unaf- 
fected by the act of May 14, 1898. 

Section 11 of the act of March 3, 1891, provided: 

Sec. 11. That until otherwise ordered by Congress lands in Alaska may be entered 
for town-site purposes, for the several use and benefit of the occupants of such town 
sites, by such trustee or trustees as may be named by the Secretary of the Interior 
for that purpose, such entries to be made under the provisions of section twenty- 
three hundred and eighty-seven of the Eevised Statutes as near as maybe; and 
when such entries shall have been made the Secretary of the Interior shall provide 
by regulation for the proper execution of the trust in favor of the inhabitants of 
the town site, including the survey of the land into lots, according to the spirit and 
intent of said section twenty-three hundred and eighty- seven of the Revised Stat- 
utes, whereby the same results would be reached as though the entry had been made 
by a county judge, and the disposal of the lots in such town site and the proceeds 
of the sale thereof had been prescribed by the legislative authority of a State or 
Territory : Provided, That no more than six hundred and forty acres shall be embraced 
in one town-site entry. 

The regulations issued under the act of March 3, 1891, will be found 
in 12 L. \)., 583. The following- are taken from those regulations, as 
amended October 27, 1898 (27 L. D., 500) : 

All town-site entries in said Territory are to be made by trustees, to 
be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, according to the spirit 
and intent of section 2387, United States Eevised Statutes, which sec- 
tion provides that the entries of land for such purposes are to be made 
in trust for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof, accord- 
ing to their respective interests, and at the minimum price, which in 
these cases shall be construed to mean $1.25 per acre. When the 
inhabitants of a place and their occupations and requirements consti- 
tute more than a mere trading post, but are less than one hundred in 
number, the town-site entry shall be restricted to 160 acres; but where 
the inhabitants are in number one hundred and less than two hundred, 
the town site entry may embrace any area not exceeding 320 acres ; and 
in cases where the inhabitants number more than two hundred, the 
town-site entry may embrace any area not exceeding 040 acres. It will 
3073 9 



130 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

be observed that no more than 640 acres shall be embraced in one town- 
site entry in said Territory. 

The system of public surveys not having been extended over any 
portion of the Territory of Alaska, and no provision being made in said 
act for the payment of the cost of officially making a special survey of 
the exterior lines of the town sites to be entered thereunder, it becomes 
necessary for the occupants of any town site in said Territory, as a 
prerequisite to having an entry made of the land claimed by them, to 
secure the special survey of the land, as prescribed for applicants for 
lands in said Territory for trade and manufacturing purposes. 

The fee- simple title to certain real estate in Alaska was conferred 
under Eussian rule upon certain individuals and the Greek Oriental 
Church, and confirmed by treaty concluded March 30, 1867, between 
the United States and the Emperor of Russia (15 Stat. L., 539) j the 
act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat., 1095), in section 14, has expressly 
excepted from entry for town sites and trading and manufacturing sites 
all tracts of land in Alaska, not exceeding 640 acres in any one tract, 
occupied as missionary stations at the date of the passage of same; 
while other real property is now held and occupied by the United 
States in several of the Alaska towns for school and other public pur- 
poses, and it is perhaps desirable that still other lots or blocks in those 
towns that take advantage of the provisions of said act should be 
reserved to meet the future requirements for school purposes or as sites 
for Government buildings. Therefore, such employee or employees of 
the Government as shall be designated or detailed for that purpose 
shall constitute a board whose duty it shall be, as soon as notified by 
the United States surveyor- general of Alaska that the duplicate receipt 
for the money deposited to defray the costs of a special survey of the 
exterior lines of such town sites has been received by him, to go upon 
the land applied for and to determine and designate what lands should 
be eliminated from the town site survey, as above indicated. 

Such board shall inquire into the title to the several private claims 
and church claims held in such town site under Eussian conveyances, 
as originally granted and claimed at the date of the acquisition of 
Alaska by this Government, and into the claims for land therein, not 
exceeding 640 acres in one tract, occupied as missionary stations on 
March 3, 1891, and shall fix and determine the proper metes and bounds 
of said church, missionary and private claims, after due notice having 
been given to the present owners of same both of their right to submit 
testimony and documents, either in person or by attorney, in support 
of same, and of their right, within thirty days from receipt of notice 
of the conclusions of said board, to file an appeal therefrom with said 
board, for transmission to this office. Should any one of such parties 
be dissatisfied with the decision of this office in such a case, he may 
still further prosecute an appeal to the Secretary of the Interior upon 
such terms as shall be prescribed in each individual case. Proper evi- 
dence of notice should be taken by said board in all cases, and a record 
of all testimony submitted to them should be kept. If an appeal is 
taken, the same, together with the decision of the board and all papers 
and evidence affecting the claims of the appellant, should be forwarded 
direct to this office. Should no appeal be taken, the report of the 
board should be filed with the United States surveyor-general for his 
use and guidance as hereinafter directed. 

It shall also be the official duty of said board to approximately fix 
and determine the metes and bounds of all lots and blocks in any such 
town site now occupied by the Government for school or other public 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 131 

purposes, and of all unclaimed lots or blocks which, in their judgment, 
should be reserved for school or any other purpose, and to make report 
of such investigations to the surveyor-general for his use and guidance, 
as also hereinafter directed, should no appeal be filed therefrom. 

Should au appeal from the action or decision of such board be filed 
in any case, no further action will be taken by the surveyor-general 
until the matter has been finally decided by this office or the Depart- 
ment. But should no appeal be filed, the surveyor-general will proceed 
to direct the survey of the outboundaries of the town site to be made, 
the same in all respects as above directed in the survey of land for 
trade and manufacturing purposes, except that he will accept the 
report and recommendations made by said board and exclude and 
except, by metes and bounds, from the laud so surveyed, all the lots 
and blocks for any purpose recommended to be excepted by said board. 
The execution of the survey of the lots and blocks thus excepted shall 
be made a part of the duties of the surveyor who is deputized to sur- 
vey the exterior lines of the town site; the survey of such lots or blocks 
shall be connected by course and distance with a corner of the town- 
site survey, and also fully described in the field notes of said survey 
and protracted upon the plat of said town site; and the limits of such 
lots or blocks will be permanently marked upon the ground in such 
manner as the surveyor- general shall direct. In forwarding the plat 
and field notes of the survey of any town site for the approval of this 
office, the surveyor- general will also forward any report that said board 
may have filed with him for approval in like manner. 

When the plat and field notes of the survey of the outboundaries of 
any town site shall have been approved, the Secretary of the Interior 
will appoint one trustee to make entry of the tract so surveyed, in trust 
for the occupants thereof, as provided by said act. The trustee having 
received his appointment, and qualified himself for duty by taking and 
subscribing the usual oath of office and executing the bond hereinafter 
required, will call upon the occupants of said town site for the requisite 
amount of money necessary to pay the Government for the land as sur- 
veyed, and other expenses incident to the entry thereof, keeping an 
accurate account thereof and giving his receipt therefor. And when 
realized from assessment and allotment, he will refund the same, taking 
evidence thereof to be filed with his report in the manner hereinafter 
directed. He will then file with the proper local land office a written 
notice, in due form, reciting the name of the party who will make the 
entry, the name and geographical location of the town site, the place 
and date of making proof, and the names of four witnesses by whom 
it is proposed to establish the right of entry. This notice will be pub- 
lished by said commissioner once a week for six consecutive weeks, at 
the applicant's expense, in a newspaper published in the town for which 
the entry is to be made, or nearest to the land applied for. Copies 
of said notice must also be posted in the office of the register and in 
a conspicuous place upon the land applied for, for thirty days next 
preceding the date of making proof. The required proof shall consist 
of the affidavits of the applicant and two of the published witnesses, 
and shall show (1) tbe actual occupancy of the land for municipal 
purposes; (i;) the number of inhabitants; (3) the character, extent, and 
value of town improvements; (4) the non mineral character of the town 
site; (5) that said town site does not contain any land occupied by the 
United States for school or other public purposes, nor any land to which 
the title in fee was conferred under Kussian rule and confirmed by the 
treaty of transfer to the United States, nor any land for which patents 



132 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

have been issued by the United States, and (6) proof of the publication 
and posting of notices for the required time, the same in all respects as 
is required by the ninth subdivision of paragraph 20 hereof. The proof 
being accepted and the certificate of entry issued by the register of the 
land office, the purchase price of the land should be paid to and receipted 
for by the receiver of the land office, after which all the papers will be 
forwarded to this office, and, if found to be complete and made in 
accordance with these iustru ctions, patent will issue without delay. Cash 
certificate of entry (No. 4-189) will be used by the register in allowing 
all entries authorized by the law and these regulations, and said entries 
will be numbered consecutively, beginning with No. 1. 

A protest against the allowance of a town-site entry will be heard, 
and the same permitted to be carried into a contest in the same man- 
ner and under the same conditions as provided in the matter of contests 
before local land officers. 

Trustees of the several town sites entered in said Territory shall levy 
assessments upon the property either occupied or possessed by any 
native Alaskan the same, as if he were a white man, and shall apportion 
and convey the same to him according to his respective interest, with- 
out regard to the question of citizenship. But, in case of white settlers, 
or associations or corporations, the trustees shall require the same evi- 
dence of citizenship or the right to hold real estate, as the case may be, 
as is required of purchasers of land for purposes of trade or manufactures. 

The eutry having been made and forwarded to this office, the trustee 
will cause an actual survey of the lots, blocks, streets, and alleys of the 
town site to be made, conforming as near as in his judgment it is deemed 
advisable to the original plan or survey of such town, making triplicate 
plats of said survey and designating upon each of said plats the lots 
occupied, together with the value of the same and the name of the 
owner or owners thereof; and iu like manner he will designate thereon 
the lots occupied by any corporation, religious organization, or private 
or sectarian school. When the plats are finally completed they will be 
certified to by him as follows: 

I, the undersigned, trustee of the town site of , Alaska Territory, hereby cer- 
tify that I have examined the survey of said town site and approved the foregoing 
plat thereof as strictly conformable to said survey made iu accordance with the act 
of Congress approved March 3, 1891, and my official instructions. 

One of said plats shall be filed in the land office in the district where 
the town site is located, one in the office of the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office, and one retained for his own use. The designa- 
tion of an owner on such plats shall be temporary until final decision 
of record in relation thereto, and shall in no case be taken or held as in 
any sense or to any degree a conclusion or judgment by the trustee as 
to the true ownership in any contested case coming before him. 

As soon as said plats are completed, the trustee will then cause to 
be posted in three conspicuous places in the town a notice to the effect 
that such survey and platting have been completed, and notifying all 
persons concerned or interested in such town site that on a designated 
day he will proceed to set off to the persons entitled to the same, accord- 
ing to their respective interests, the lots, blocks, or grounds to which 
each occupant thereof shall be entitled under the provisions of said act. 
Such notices shall be posted at least fifteen days prior to the day set 
apart by the trustee for making such division and allotment. Proof of 
such notification shall be evidenced by the affidavit of the trustee, 
accompanied by a copy of such notice. 

After such notice shall have been duly given, the trustee will pro- 
ceed on the designated day, except in contest cases, which shall be 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 133 

disposed of in the manner hereinafter provided, to set apart to the 
persons entitled to receive the same the lots, blocks, and grounds to 
which each person, company, or association of persons shall be entitled, 
according to their respective interests, including in the portion or por- 
tions set apart to each person, corporation, or association of persons 
the improvements belonging thereto, and in so doing he will observe 
and follow as strictly as the platting of the town site will permit the 
rights of all parties to the property claimed by them as shown and 
defined by the records of the clerk of the district court of Alaska, who 
is ex officio recorder of deeds and mortgages and other contracts relating 
to real estate in said Territory. 

After setting apart such lots, blocks, or parcels, and upon a valuation 
of the same as hereinbefore provided for, the trustee will proceed to 
determine and assess upon such lots and blocks according to their 
value, such rate and sum as will be necessary to pay all expenses inci- 
dent to the town-site entry. In those cases in which there appears more 
than one claimant for any lot or block, the trustee will require each 
claimant to pay the assessment, and upon the final determination of 
the contest, as hereinbefore provided for, the unsuccessful claimant or 
claimants will be reimbursed in a sum equal to the assessment paid by 
them, such reimbursements to be properly accounted for by the trustee. 
In making the assessments the trustee will take into consideration — 

First. The reimbursement of the parties who deposited the money to 
pay the costs of surveying and platting the outboundaries of the town 
site, and who advanced such money as was necessary in addition to pay 
the purchase price of the land. 

Second. The money expended in advertising and making proof and 
entry of the town site. 

Third. The compensation of himself as trustee. 

Fourth. The expenses incident to making the conveyances. 

Fifth. All necessary traveling expenses and all other legitimate 
expenses incident to the expeditious execution of his trust. 

More than one assessment may be made, if necessary, to effect the 
purposes of said act of Congress and these instructions. Upon receipt 
of the assessments the trustee will issue deeds for the uncontested 
lots, blank forms of conveyance being furnished by this office for that 
purpose. 

His work having been completed to this point, the trustee will then, 
and not before, in cases where he finds two or more inhabitants claim- 
ing the same lot, block, or parcel of land, proceed to hear and deter- 
mine the controversy, fixing a time and place for the hearing of the 
respective claims of the interested parties, giving each ten days' notice 
thereof, and a fair opportunity to present their interests in accordance 
with the principles of law and equity applicable to the case, observing 
as far as practicable the rules prescribed for contests before registers 
and receivers of the local offices; he will administer oaths to the wit- 
nesses, observe the rules of evidence as near as may be in making his 
investigations, and at the close of the case, or as soon thereafter as his 
duties will permit, render a decision in writing. If the notice herein 
provided for can not be personally served upon the party therein named 
within three days from its date, such service may be made by a printed 
notice published for ten days in a newspaper in the town in which the 
lot to be affected thereby is situated; or, if there is none published in 
such town, then said notice may be printed in any newspaper published 
in the Territory. Copies of such notice should also be posted upon 
the lot in controversy and in at least three other conspicuous places in 



134 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the town wherein the lot is situated. The proof of such publication 
and posting of notices, to be filed with the record, may be made as pro- 
vided in these rules and regulations in other cases. The proceedings 
in these contests should be abbreviated in time and words, or the work 
may not be completed within the limit of any reasona ble period of time 
or expense. 

Before proceeding to dispose of the contested cases the trustee will 
require each claimant to deposit with him each morning a sum sufficient 
to cover and pay all costs and expenses on such proceedings for that 
day. At the close of the contest, on appeal or otherwise, the sum 
deposited by the successful party shall be returned to him, but that 
deposited by the losing party shall be retained and accounted for by 
said trustee. 

Any person feeling aggrieved by the decision of the trustee may, 
within thirty days after notice thereof, appeal to the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office, under the rules as provided for appeals from the 
opinions of registers and receivers, and if either party is dissatisfied with 
the conclusions of said Commissioner in the case, he may still further 
prosecute an appeal, within sixty days from notice thereof, to the Secre- 
tary of the Interior, upon like terms and conditions and under the same 
rules that appeals are now regulated by and taken in adversary pro- 
ceedings from the Commissioner to the Secretary. All costs in such 
proceedings will be governed by the rules now applicable to contests 
before the local land offices. 

The trustee shall receive and pay out all money provided for in these 
instructions, subject to the supervision of this office, and he shall keep 
a correct record of his proceedings and an accurate account of all 
money received and disbursed by him, taking and filing proper vouch- 
ers therefor, in the manner hereinafter provided; and before entering 
upon duty he shall, in addition to taking the official oath, also enter 
into a bond to the United States in the penal sum of $5,000, for the 
faithful discharge of his duties, both as now prescribed and furnished 
by the Department of the Interior. 

All lots remaining unoccupied and unclaimed when the trustee shall 
have made his allotments and assessments will be sold at public outcry, 
for cash, to the highest bidder. The proceeds of such sales, together 
with any balance remaining in the hands of the trustee to the credit of 
the town-site occupants, to be expended, under the direction of the 
Secretary of the Interior, for the benefit of the town. 

All payments by the occupants of any town site for any of the pur- 
poses above named, except the survey of the outboundaries of the land 
so entered, shall be in cash, and made only to the trustee thereof, who 
shall make duplicate receipts for all money paid him, one to be given 
the party making the payment, and the other to be forwarded to this 
office with the trustee's papers and accounts. Said trustee shall also 
take receipts for all money disbursed by him, and be held strictly 
accountable by this office, under his bond, for the proper handling of 
the trust funds in his possession. 

The trustee of any town site in said Territory will be allowed com- 
pensation at the rate of $5 per day for each day actually engaged and 
employed in the performance of his duties as such trustee, and his nec- 
essary traveling expenses. 

The trustee's duties herein prescribed having been completed, the 
account of all his expenses and expenditures, together with a record of 
his proceedings and a list of the lots to be sold at public sale, as here- 
inbefore provided, with all papers in his possession and all evidence of 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 135 

his official acts, shall be transmitted to this office to become a part of 
the records hereof, excepting from such papers, however, the subdivi- 
sion al plat of the town site, which he shall deliver to the clerk of the 
district court, to be made of record and placed on file in his office as ex- 
officio recorder of deeds, mortgages, and other contracts relating to real 
estate in the Territory of Alaska. 

THE BOARD OF EQUITABLE ADJUDICATION. 

The board of equitable adjudication is established and its powers 
defined by sections 2450 to 2457 of the Eevised Statutes (Appendix No. 1, 
pp. 160-161), amended by act of February 27, 1877, substituting the Sec- 
retary of the Interior for the Secretary of the Treasury as one of the 
board. It consists of the Secretary of the Interior, the Attorney-Gen- 
eral, and the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and is author- 
ized u to decide upon principles of equity and justice * * * all cases 
of suspended entries of public lands * * * and to adjudge in what 
cases patents shall issue upon same." The board has no power to 
adjudicate adverse claims between contesting parties, but only between 
the United States and claimants, in cases where the law has been sub- 
stantially complied with, but where error or informality has arisen from 
ignorance, accident, or mistake, which is satisfactorily explained. . 

This board is a tribunal of special and limited jurisdiction, outside 
of which it has no authority, but inside of which it is exclusive. No 
appeal lies from its decisions, nor are they subject to review by any 
other tribunal. 

(For the rules and regulations of the board of equitable adjudication, 
see Appendix No. 85, p. 265.) 

CHANGES OF ENTRY. 

In order to secure uniformity in proceedings upon applications for 
change of entry, attention is called to the following sections of the 
Revised Statutes and accompanying instructions: 

Sec. 2369. In every case of a purchaser of public lands, at private sale, having 
entered at the land office a tract different from that he intended to purchase, and 
being desirous of having the error in his entry corrected, he shall make his application 
for that purpose to the register of the land office, and if it appears from testimony 
satisfactory to the register and receiver that an error in the entry has been made, 
and that the same "was occasioned by original incorrect marks made by the surveyor, 
or by the obliteration or change of the original marks and numbers at corners of 
the tract of land ; or that it has in any other wise arisen from mistake or error of the 
surveyor, or officers of the land office, the register and receiver shall report the case, 
with the testimony and their opinion thereon, to the Secretary of the Interior, who 
is authorized to direct that the purchaser is at liberty to withdraw the entry so 
erroneously made, and that the moneys which have been paid shall be applied in the 
purchase of other lands in the same district, or credited in the payment for other 
lands which have been purchased at the same office. 

Sec. 2370. The provisions of the preceding section are declared to extend to all 
cases where patents have been issued, or may hereafter issue; upon condition, how- 
ever, that the party concerned surrenders his patent to the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office, with a relinquishment of title thereon, executed in a form to be 
prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Sec. 2371. The provisions of the two preceding sections are made applicable in all 
respects to errors in the location of land warrants. 

Sec. 2372. In all cases of an entry hereafter made of a tract of land not intended 
to be entered, by a mistake of the true numbers of the tract intended to be entered, 
where the tract thus erroneously entered does not in quantity exceed one-half sec- 
tion, and where the certificate of the original purchaser has not been assigned, or 
his right in any way transferred, the purchaser, or, in case of his death, the legal 
representatives, not being assignees or transferees, may, in any case coming within 



136 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the provisions of this section, file his own affidavit, with such additional evidence 
as can be procured, showing the mistake of the numbers of the tract intended to be 
entered, and that every reasonable precaution and exertion has been used to avoid 
the error with the register and receiver of the land district within which such tract 
of land is situated, who shall transmit the evidence submitted to them in each case, 
together with their written opinion, both as to the existence of the mistake and the 
credibility of each person testifying thereto, to the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office, who, if he be entirely satisfied that tbe mistake has been made, and 
that every reasonable precaution and exertion has been made to avoid it, is author- 
ized to change the entry and transfer the payment from the tract erroneously entered 
to that intended to be entered, if unsold; but if sold, to any other tract liable to 
entry ; but the oath of the person interested shall in no case be deemed sufficient, in 
the absence of other corroborating testimony, to authorize such change of entry; 
nor shall anything herein contained affect the right of third persons. 

It will be observed that section 2369 is intended to afford relief to 
purchasers of public lands at private sale whose errors in entry have 
been occasioned by the original incorrect marking by the surveyor, or 
by the subsequent change or obliteration of those marks, or by any 
other error originating either with the surveyor or the land officers. 

Section 2370 extends the foregoing provision to cases where patents 
have been or may be issued. 

Section 2371 extends the provisions of both the preceding sections to 
errors in the location of land warrants. 

Section 2372, further extending these provisions, applies to all classes 
of entries, and also embraces cases where the error was not occasioned 
by any act of the surveyor or of the land officers, but restricts changes 
of entry to cases in which the tract erroneously entered does not 
in quantity exceed one-half section, and where the certificate 'of the 
original purchaser has not been assigned or his right in any way 
transferred. 

Change of entry may therefore be allowed, in accordance with these 
provisions, in respect to either of the following classes of cases, viz: 

Purchases at public sale. 

Private entries. 

Preemption entries. 

Military bounty land warrant locations. 

Scrip locations, etc. 

A change of entry, when allowed, will be made from the tract erro- 
neously entered to that intended to have been entered, if vacant; but 
if not vacant, the change may be made to any other tract liable to entry. 

APPLICATION FOE CHANGKE OF ENTRY. 

The application must, in all cases, be made by the party making the 
original entry, or, in case of his death, by his legal representatives, not 
being assignees or transferees. 

The applicant must file an affidavit showing the nature and particu- 
lar cause of the error, and that every reasonable and proper precaution 
had been used to avoid it, accompanied by the best corroborative testi- 
mony that can be procured. The oath of the party interested is not of 
itself sufficient. 

The affidavit must also show that the land erroneously entered has 
not been transferred or otherwise encumbered. 

This evidence, together with the joint opinion of the register and 
receiver as to the existence of the mistake, and the credibility of each 
person testifying thereto, will be forwarded for the decision of this 
office. 

Where a patent has not been issued they will require the surrender 
of the duplicate receipt, or certificate of location (as the case may be), 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 137 

accompanied by the affidavit of the party that he has not sold, assigned, 
nor in any way encumbered the title to the land described in the appli- 
cation, and that said title has not become a matter of record. 

Where a patent has issued it must be surrendered. 

Where the title has become a matter of record, and in all cases where 
patent Las issued, they will require a quitclaim deed, or release, to 
the United States, which deed must be executed, acknowledged, and 
recorded in accordance with the laws of the State or Territory in which 
the land is situated. They will also require a certificate from the 
county clerk, or other officer having charge of the books in which any 
conveyance of the land is required to be recorded to give it validity, 
stating that the records of such office do not exhibit any conveyance 
or other incumbrance of the land in question. In the case of a mar- 
ried man, a properly executed release of dower by the wife must be 
furnished, if a right of dower exists under the local law. 

WHEN CHANGE OF ENTRY IS ALLOWED. 

In all cases of application for a change of entry, when the evidence 
is satisfactory, a new register's certificate will be authorized by this 
office, which certificate will bear the current number and date, and will 
be indorsed with the authority for such change. 

The tract to which the change is allowed, its area, etc., will be 
reported on the proper monthly abstracts, with a noting in red ink of 
the items credited from the old certificate and not included in the 
footings. 

Any excess over an original amount will be accounted for as in case 
of the other excesses. 

For instructions as to amendments of applications and entries see 
page 90. 

FURNISHING CERTIFIED COPIES. 

Annexed are the laws (Revised Statutes of the United States) rela- 
tive to the powers and duties of the General Land Office in furnishing 
exemplifications of patents, papers, or plats on file or of record therein; 
of the legal force and effect of such certified copies, and the terms upon 
which the same can be procured. (Sees. 461, 891, 2469, 2470, Rev. Stat. ; 
Appendix Ko. 1, pp. 143, 144, and 162.) 

With a view to give proper effect to said statutes, the following 
requirements are prescribed by direction of the Secretary of the 
Interior : 

First. All copies which may be required by parties interested will 
be furnished when the cost thereof shall first have been paid to the 
General Land Office. 

Second. The applicant must address a communication to the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office designating the tract or tracts in 
regard to which the verified transcripts are wanted, describing as accu- 
rately as possible the record, papers, or plats of which said transcripts 
are desired, and sending a sum of money quite sufficient to cover the 
cost according to the extent of the copying required; and should the 
sum sent to this office be in excess of the actual legal cost, such excess 
will be returned to the applicant. 

The following is the tariff' established under the statute, section 461, 
for furnishing transcripts, to wit: 

1. Fifteen cents for every hundred words in a transcript. 

2. Two dollars for copy of township plat or diagram. 



138 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

3. One dollar for the Commissioner's certificate of verification and 
official seal. 

Third. Upon the receipt at the General Land Office of the applica- 
tion particularly describing the record or paper of which transcripts 
are required, accompanied by the requisite amount to cover the expense, 
the same will be duly acknowledged and the exemplifications promptly 
transmitted. 

Jn computing the cost of such exemplified copies, the following rules 
will be observed, viz : 

The sum of 15 cents per hundred will be charged for all words in the 
copies furnished, whether written or printed. 

Each compound or hyphenated word will be counted as one word. 

Each name or initial letter representing a name of a person, place, or 
thing will be counted as one word. Ditto marks (") will each count as 
one word. 

Figures will be considered as they woulo appear when properly rep- 
resented as written words, and counted accordingly. 

No charge will be made for quotation marks, asterisks, signs of 
degrees or minutes, or other arbitrary signs or marks employed in writ- 
ten or printed matter. 

Regarding initials, it will be observed that SB. for southeast, NW. 
for northwest, and similar combinations standing for compound words 
should be counted as one word only. 

Photolithographic township plats and maps of the States and Terri- 
tories remaining on hand in this office may be sold to citizens of the 
United States — certified copies at 50 cents per copy; uncertified copies 
at 25 cents per copy — under act of Congress approved October 12, 1888. 
(25 Stats. L., 557.) 

Photolithographic copies of official township plats of surveys are on 
file in this office for townships in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, 
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, 
Nebraska, Ohio, Washington, and Wisconsin, which will be supplied to 
applicants upon payment of the legal fee, viz, 25 cents each for uncerti- 
fied copies or 50 cents each for certified copies. 

DUTIES OF REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS. 

The duties of registers and receivers in many cases connected with 
the administration of the laws regarding public lands have already been 
incidentally set forth. 

In addition thereto they will observe the following : 

REGULAR ATTENDANCE AT OFFICE. 

They will be in attendance regularly at their offices, keeping the same 
open for transaction of business from 9 o'clock a. m. till 4 o'clock p. m., 
and giving all proper information and facilities to persons applying 
therefor, without charge, except as provided by law. 

ENTRY APPLICATIONS. 

Applications to make entry can not be received by the register or 
receiver out of office hours, nor elsewhere than at their office, nor can 
affidavits or proofs be taken by either of them except in the regular and 
public discharge of their ordinary duties. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 139 

Registers and receivers mast note upon the paper itself, in case of 
every filing, declaration, or application (where the same is not executed 
before them and presented by the applicant in person), the name of 
the party by whom the same was presented or transmitted. (Circular 
approved October 25, 1886, 5 L. D., 198.) 

NOTICES. 

All notices given by registers and receivers of hearings, decisions, or 
other action, whether of their offices or of this office, involving the 
right of appeal by any party or the exercise of other rights within a 
certain time, or compliance with some official requirement, must be 
served personally or by registered letter. 

When personal service is had the register and receiver will transmit 
to this office the acknowledgment of such service or evidence thereof. 

When service is made by registered letter the return letter receipt, or 
returned letter, as the case may be, must, in every instance, be sent up 
with the papers in the case. 

The costs of registration will be paid out of the advances from the 
proper appropriations, and estimates therefor will be embraced in the 
usual requisitions. (Circular approved October 28, 1886, 5 L. D., 204.) 

SPECIAL REPORTS. 

The habitual failure of local officers to promptly notify this office 
when appeals are not taken from decisions or action of this office, or 
where parties do not comply with requirements made, or where they take 
no action under notices directed to be given, involves great embarrass- 
ment and delay, and causes unnecessary correspondence to obtain the 
information which the register and receiver are expected and required 
to furnish without special calls therefor. 

In order to obviate these difficulties it is directed: 

First. That in each local land office at least two current dockets must 
be kept. 

1. A docket of contested cases in which every case of individual 
contest shall be entered when initiated, and thereafter a memorandum 
of every order made or action taken in such case, either by the local 
office or by this office or by the Secretary of the Interior, shall also be 
entered as soon as any action is had or notice thereof received. 

2. A docket in which shall be entered every entry of any character 
which is held for cancellation, or in which further evidence is called for, 
or other requirements made involving the right of appeal or other action 
by the party, and reports thereon by the local officers. In each case 
memoranda shall at once be entered on the docket of all holdings, calls, 
or other action by this office, stating the nature thereof, the time allowed 
for appeal, reply, or other proceeding, the date and initial of Commis- 
sioner's letter, and the date of notice and evidence of service of notice, 
together with any other memoranda deemed necessary. 

Second. The date when the period allowed for appeal, reply, or other 
action by the party will expire, and a report to the General Land Office 
by the local officers become due, must in every instance be distinctly 
noted on the dockets at the time notice is given to the party. 

Third. Upon every Saturday the dockets must be carefully examined, 
and reports to this office made in all cases where time for report has 
arrived. (Circular approved December 18, 1885, 6 L. D., 12.) 



140 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

COMMISSIONS, FEES, AND SALARY. 

They are prohibited from making any charges for their services other 
than such as are provided by law. (Sees. 2238, 2239, and 2246, Eev. 
Stat., Appendix No. 1. pp. 144-146; act May 14, 1880, 21 Stat. L., 140, 
Appendix No. 15, p. 174; act March 3, 1883, 22 Stat. L., 484, Appen- 
dix No. 25, p. 181; act July 4, 1884, 23 Stat. L., 96, Appendix No. 27, 
p. 183; act August 4, 1886, and act March 3, 1887, 24 Stat. L., 239, idem 
526, Appendix No. 29, p. 183.) 

Eeceivers will deposit to the credit of the Treasurer of the United 
States all moneys received for reducing testimony to writing, and all 
other fees which, by the act of March 3, 1883, were authorized to be 
retained by registers and receivers (except the amount payable for clerk 
hire, in accordance with the terms of the law), as other public moneys 
of the United States received from fees and commissions are deposited. 

All such fees will be reported in detail on the receiver's monthly de- 
tailed account current thereof (Form 4-146), and accounted for in their 
monthly and quarterly accounts. But fees not earned, that is, deposits 
made for services to be rendered, are not to be deposited or accounted for 
until they become public moneys of the United States. 

The fee of $1, authorized to be retained by the register for giving 
notice of the cancellation of an entry, as provided by the act of May 
14, 1880, will be paid to the receiver, who will deposit it with the other 
fees, when the entry is canceled and the notice given. Should the can- 
cellation not take place and no notice be given the fee is to be returned 
to the depositor. 

In computing the fees for reducing testimony to writing the words 
actually written by registers and receivers, or persons in their employ, 
only must be charged for at the rates allowed by paragraphs 10, 11, and 
12 of section 2238, Revised Statutes, and no charge is to be made for 
the printed words. The words actually written must be counted and 
charged for, and there can be no uniform fee of a specified sum appli- 
cable to every case of the same class of entries; that is, registers and 
receivers can not fix the fee at $1 or more for each preemption, final 
homestead, or mineral entry. 

Under the second section of the act of March 3, 1883, authorizing a 
charge to be made for plats or diagrams, the fees for the same are fixed 
as follows : 

For a township diagram showing entries only $1. 00 

For a township plat showing entries, names of claimants, and character of entry. 2.00 
For a township plat showing entries, names of claimants, character of entry, 

and number 3. 00 

For a township plat showing entries, names of claimants, character of entry, 
number and date of filing or entry, together with topography, etc 4. 00 

There is no legal authority for registers and receivers to charge or 
receive a fee of 25 cents for plats or diagrams of a section or a part of 
a section of a township. 

In all cases where the final proofs in homestead and timber-culture 
entries are taken by other officers — by United States commissioners, 
judges, or clerks of courts — the registers and receivers will, under act 
of March 3, 1877 (Appendix No. 5, p. 165), and act of March 3, 1891 
(Appendix No. 44, p. 221), be allowed the same fees for examining and 
approving the testimony as would be charged if the testimony were 
taken by themselves under the tenth and twelfth subdivisions of sec- 
tion 2238, Eevised Statutes. 

The first section of the act of March 3, 1891 (Appendix No. 44, p. 221), 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 141 

in providing for the commutation of timber-culture entries uses the fol- 
lowing words, viz: " Registers and receivers shall be allowed the same 
fees and compensation for final proofs in timber- culture entries as is 
now allowed by law in homestead entries." 

This provision appears to be ? first, a legislative construction of the 
previously existing law as allowing the same fees and compensation for 
services rendered by registers and receivers in final proofs in home- 
stead entries, for reducing the testimony to writing, if made before 
them, or examining and approving the same, if made before some other 
officer, under the tenth and twelfth subdivisions of section 2238, Revised 
Statutes, and act of March 3, 1877 (19 Stat. L., 403), without regard to 
whether such proofs are made after the expiration of the five-year period 
of residence and cultivation, or at an earlier date, in commutation cases; 
and second, an enactment that the fees and compensation indicated 
shall also be allowed for such services when rendered in connection 
with timber-culture entries, whether after the expiration of the full 
statutory period or at an earlier date, in commutation cases, thus equal- 
izing the fees and compensation in all cases of the classes mentioned. 

The attention of registers and receivers is called to section 2242, 
Revised Statutes (Appendix No. 1, p. 146), as follows: 

No register or receiver shall receive any compeusation out of the Treasury for past 
services who has charged or received illegal fees; and on satisfactory proof that 
either of such officers has charged or received fees or other rewards not authorized 
by law, he shall he forthwith removed from office. 

This statute will be strictly enforced. 

Registers of land offices have no right officially to receive any moneys 
whatever except such as are paid to them by receivers as salary, fees, 
and commissions. Should any money be forwarded to the register or 
paid to him, he will at once pay over the same to the receiver; and 
where parties address the register as to the cost of any service required, 
he will refer the matter to the receiver for answer, as the latter is the 
proper officer to receive all public moneys. 

All fees collected by registers and receivers, from any source what- 
ever, which would increase their salaries beyond $3,000 each a year, 
shall be covered into the Treasury, except only so much as may be 
necessary to pay actual cost of clerical services employed exclusively 
in contested cases, and they shall report quarterly under oath, of all 
expenditures for such clerical services, with vouchers therefor. (Act 
August 4, 1886, 24 Stat. L., 239, Appendix No. 29, p. 183; repeated in 
act March 3, 1887, 24 Stat. L., 526.) 

MONTHLY REPORTS. 

Within three days from the close of each month the register and 
receiver must make out and transmit to the General Land Office a 
statement of the business of their respective offices for the preceding 
month. 

These reports are in the form of abstracts of preemption declarations 
and of soldiers' declarations filed, abstracts of lands sold, abstracts 
of homesteads entered, abstracts of timber-culture entries allowed, 
abstracts of military bounty-land warrants and of agricultural college 
scrip located, accompanied by the certificates of purchase, receivers' 
receipts, homestead and timber- culture applications and affidavits, mili- 
tary bounty-laud warrants and agricultural college scrip surrendered 
as satisfied, and the certificates of location thereof; also of all other 
forms of entry or location requiring separate leturns. Names of parties 



142 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

must be clearly and legibly written in these papers to correspond with the 
signature to every application; and when spelled in two or more ways, 
or illegibly written by the person signing, the register must ascertain 
by proper inquiry the correct orthography and certify to the same upon 
the margin of the certificate. 

The abstracts, after being carefully examined by the register and 
receiver, are to be certified by them as correct and as in conformity 
with the papers in the entries or locations embraced therein and with 
their records, which papers, abstracts, and records must agree with 
each other. 

MONTHLY AND QUARTERLY STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS. 

The receiver is required to render promptly, to the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office and to the Secretary of the Treasury, a monthly 
account of all moneys received, showing the balance due the Govern- 
ment at the close of each month; and at the end of every quarter 
he must also transmit a quarterly account. (Sec. 2245, Eev. Stat.; 
Appendix No. 1, p. 146.) 

He is required to deposit the moneys received by him at some depos- 
itory designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, when the amount 
on hand shall have reached the sum of $1,000; and in no case is he 
authorized, without special instructions, to hold a larger amount in his 
hands. 



Laws and instructions relating to mining claims, bounty lands, rail- 
road adjustments, town sites, timber depredations, and other special 
matters form the subject of separate circulars. 

Binger Hermann, 
Commissioner of the General Land Office. 
Approved July 11, 1899. 

E. A. Hitchcock, Secretary. 



APPENDIX. 



[No. 1.] 

REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 



Sec. 441. The Secretary of the Interior is charged 



Duties of Secretary. 



with the supervision of public business relating to the 2 



5, 6, 7, 8, 9, v. 9, p. 395. 



following subjects : JJA™ ' c ' 230 ' 

First. The Census; when directed by law. Jj.tl im ' c " 22 ' s- h v- 

Second. The public lands, including mines. J°2 u ll' Joe 68 ' c 17fi ' s- h v " 

Third. The Indians. fcWJ«.Tyi«,i «.,»«. 

Fourth. Pensions and bounty lands. 
Fifth. Patents for inventions. 

Sixth. The custody and distribution of publications. 
Seventh. Education. 

Eighth. Government Hospital for the Insane. 
Ninth. Columbia Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. 

COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE. 

Sec. 453. The Commissioner of the General Land 

>-v /v-» i ii n i ji i' j_» nj_ir^ Duties of Commissioner. 

Office shall perform, under the direction ot the feecre- 25A Pr ., isu.c 68, .. i v. 
tary of the Interior, all executive duties appertaining *' p j™; vm, c. 3=2, ■. i, ▼. 
to the surveying and sale of the public lands of the°' p ' 107 " 
United States, or in anywise respecting such public lands, and, also, 
such as relate to private claims of land, and the issuing of patents for 
all agents [grants] of land under the authority of the Government. 



exemplifications of patents, records, books, or papers. 

Sec. 461. All exemplifications of patents, or papers on file or of 
record in the General Land Office, which may be required by parties 
interested, shall be furnished by the Commissioner upon the payment 
by such parties at the rate of fifteen cents per hundred words, and two 
dollars for copies of township plats or diagrams, with an additional sum 
of one dollar for the Commissioner's certificate of verification with the 
General Land Office seal; and one of the employes of the Office shall 
be designated by the Commissioner as the receiving clerk, and the 
amounts so received shall, under the direction of the Commissioner, be 
paid into the Treasury ; but fees shall not be demanded for such authen- 
ticated copies as may be required by the officers of any branch of the 

143 



and receivers, 

See all 
land distric 



144 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Government, nor for such unverified copies as the Commissioner in his 
discretion may deem proper to furnish. (See sees. 891, 2469, and 2470.) 

Sec. 891. Copies of any records, books, or papers in the General Land 
Office, authenticated by the seal and certified by the Commissioner 
thereof, or, when his office is vacant, by the principal clerk, shall be evi- 
dence equally with the originals thereof. And literal exemplifications 
of any such records shall be held, when so introduced in evidence, to be 
of the same validity as if the names of the officers signing and counter- 
signing the same had been fully inserted in such record. (See sees. 461, 
2469, and 2470.) 

REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS. 

Sec. 2234. There shall be appointed by the President, 

Appointment of registers by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a 
""'"acts establishing register of the land office and a receiver of public 
moneys, for each land district established by law. 
Residence of re ister and ^ EC# 2235. Every register and receiver shall reside 
receiver? 06 ( " g ' s " am at the place where the land office for which he is ap- 

See all acts establishing . J- . . ,■%■%, 

land districts. pointed is directed by law to be kept. 

Sec. 2236. Every register and receiver shall, before 
c Bond of renter and re- entering on the c i u ti es of his office, give bond in the 

v.slre^^'s'Marf/iBM; penal sum of ten thousand dollars, with approved se- 
c. 145, s. o, v. io, p. 245. curity> f or tlie f a ith f u l discharge of his trust. 

salaries of renter and re- Sec. 2237. Every register and receiver shall be al- 
cei 3 v o e Mav 1862, c. se, s. 6, v. lowed an annual salary of five hundred dollars. 
ll, p ;.fp. 4 l Apr,1818 ' c - Sec. 2238. Eegisters and receivers, in addition to 
regi^andre c c eTv:r: sions o£ their salaries, shall be allowed each the following fees 
5, 3 P f e & t 6. 1 « 1 'Mar!; s i86!; I: and commissions, namely: 

38, s . 4, v. is, p. 35. First. A fee of one dollar for each declaratory state- 

ment filed, and for services in acting on pre-emption claims. 

20 Apr. i8is, c 123, v. a, Second. A commission of one per centum on all mon- 
p-466 - eys received at each receiver's office. 1 

21 Mar. 1864, c. 38, s . 2, v. Third. A commission to be paid by the homestead 
75;s p 6, 3 v.i2!p M k3,\ 8 5 6 iiy applicant, at the time of entry, of one per centum on 
i87o,' c.' 294; s '. 25, v. re, P 320. ^he cash price, as fixed by law, of the land applied for; 
and a like commission when the claim is finally established, and the 
certificate therefor issued as the basis of a patent. 

3 Mar. 1873, c 277, s . 6, v. Fourth. The same comin ission on lauds entered under 
17 ' p - 606 - any law to encourage the growth of timber on western 

prairies, as allowed when the like quantity of land is entered with 
money. 2 

22 Mar. 1852, c. 19, a. 2, v. Fifth. For locating military bounty-land warrants 
s.°w2, 2 P J 5& 186 ' 2 ' c ' ho ' issued since the eleventh day of February, eighteen 

hundred and forty- seven, and for locating agricultural 
college land scrip, the same commission to be paid by the holder or 
assignee of each warrant or scrip, as is allowed for sales of the public 
lands for cash, at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per 
acre. 

1 This clause is construed, to refer only to receipts from cash sales. It does not 
apply to fees and commissions. (Circular January 23, 1880.) 

2 The clause was superseded by act of March 13, 1874 (18 Stat., 21), which was in 
turn superseded by act of June 14, 1878 (20 IS tat., 113; Appendix No. 8), as interpreted 
by the decision of the First Comptroller (Copp's Land Owner, vol. ix, p. 240). 



1 July, 1864, c. 
p. 335. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 145 

Sixth. A fee, in donation cases, of two dollars and 8 oMay,i862,c.8M.6,v. 
fifty cents for each final certificate for one hundred and ^j&fS?; 18S o,c. ?, v. «i, P . 
sixty acres of land; five dollars for three hundred and 3H - 
twenty acres ; and seven dollars and fifty cents for six hundred and 
forty acres. 

Seventh. In the location of lands by States and cor- 
porations under grants from Congress for railroads and 13> 
other purposes, (except for agricultural colleges), a fee of one dollar 
for each final location of one hundred and sixty acres; to be paid by 
the State or corporation making such location. 

Eighth. A fee of five dollars per diem for superin- 2 4 A p r .,i82o,c.si,8.s,v. 
tending public-land sales at their respective offices; 3 -p- 6B7 -' 
[and to each receiver, mileage in going to and returning from deposit- 
ing the public moneys received by him l ]. 

Ninth. A fee of five < ! ollars for filing and acting upon 10 May> 1872 c 15l) s ]2j 
each application for patent or adverse claim filed for v - 17 >p- 9 ' 5 - 
mineral lands, to be paid by the respective parties. 

Tenth. Eegisters and receivers are allowed, jointly, 21 Mar ]864 c 38 s 4> 
'at the rate of fifteen cents per hundred words for testi- v - 13 >p- si- 
mony reduced by them to writing for claimants, in establishing pre- 
emption and homestead rights. 

Eleventh. A like fee as provided in the preceding 
subdivision when such writing is done in the land' v Av?95. 187 ' 2 ' c " 152 > s - 12 > 
office, in establishing claims for mineral lands. 

Twelfth . Eegisters and receivers in California, Oregon, 
Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, y\^%l ald'sevefai *l<k 
Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana, are each enti- "Sfw^JSS ^ ce lilZ 
tled to collect and receive fifty per centum on the fees tana ' 
and commissions provided for in the first, third, and tenth subdivisions 
of this section. 

Sec. 2239. The register for any consolidated land dis- Fea f 
trict, in addition to the fees now allowed by law, shall ceiver s fo° Saw land 

/ ** / offices 

be entitled to charge and receive for making transcripts is Feb.,i86i, c . 38, ■. 1,3, 
for individuals, or furnishing any other record infor- 
mation respecting public lands or land titles in his consolidated land 
district, such fees as are properly authorized by the tariff existing in 
the local courts of his district; and the receiver shall receive his equal 
share of such fees, and it shall be his duty to aid the register in the 
preparation of the transcripts, or giving the desired record information. 

Maximum of compensation 

Sec. 2240. The compensation of registers and receiv- ^TE^vSuTtsPL*, 
ers, including salary, fees, and commissions, shall in no ^^['i^.t^lo'lty 
case exceed in the aggregate three thousand dollars a gSj/S^SJj'^v.^ 
year each; and no register or receiver shall receive for l;)^[ np^itStM 1 ^ 
any one quarter or fractional quarter more than a pro- J^i&Y%o" 1 BV"*M 
rata allowance of such maximum. 2 ft Mk. sir*.,ijM,« v * 



11, p. 378. 18 Feb., 1861, c. 
38, ss. 1, 3, v. 12, p. 131. — L\ 
S. v. Babbit, 1 Bl., 55. 

Sec. 2241. Whenever the amount of compensation re- 
ceived at any land office exceeds the maximum allowed be E P ^?ntoT?eX n y at,on to 
by law to any register or receiver, the excess shall be lo^oZ^ii'&bV/mlll: 
paid into the Treasury, as other public moneys. 3 "' ss ' h 3 ' v 12 ' p ' 13K 

1 Part in brackets repealed. Actual expenses only allowed. Act June 16, 1874 (18 
Stat., 72). 

2 See notes at foot of the preceding page. 

3073 10 



146 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

niegai fees: Penalty. Sec. 2242. No register or receiver shall receive any 



22 Mar., 1852, c. 19, s. 
v.10, p. 4. 17 July, 1854 



compensation out of the Treasury for past services who 
84, s . e, v. io, P . cue. has charged or received illegal fees; and, on satisfae- 

factory proof that either of such officers has charged or received fees 
or other rewards not authorized by law, he shall be forthwith removed 
from office. 

Sec. 2243. The compensation of registers and receiv- 

Compensation of registers t j_i n -i -i • • -i -n 

and receivers, when to com- ers, both tor salary and commissions, shall commence 

m 24 c Feb.,i855,c.i24, s .3,v. and be calculated lrom the time they, respectively, 

enter on the discharge of their duties. 

Duration of office of regis- Sec. 2244. All registers and receivers shall be ap- 
^iTmIjTS^'c 102, s. i, pointed for the term of four years, but shall be remov- 
v - 3 > p - 589 ' ' able at pleasure. 

Monthly and quarterly re- Sec. 2245. The receivers shall make to the Secretary 
'Tjuiy^Ic'Vs.ov.s, of the Treasury monthly returns of the moneys re- 
p111 - ceived in their several offices, and pay over such 

money pursuant to his instructions. And they shall also make to the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office like monthly returns, and 
transmit to him quarterly accounts current of the debits and credits of 
their several offices with the United States: 

oath administered byregis- Seo. 2246. The register or receiver is authorized, and 
^YuneTisIo'c. 35, v. 5, P . it shall be their duty, to administer any oath required by 
384 law or the instructions of the General Land Office, in 

connection with the entry or purchase of any tract of the public lands, 
but he shall not charge or receive, directly or indirectly, any compensa- 
tion for administering such oath. 

penalty for false informs $EC. 2247. If any person applies to any register to 
tion by register.^ 32 ^ ^ enter anyland whatever, and the register knowingly and 
v5p112 - ' falsely informs the person so applying that the same 

has already been entered, and refuses to permit the person so applying 
to enter the same, such register shall be liable therefor to the person so 
applying, for $5 for each acre of land which the person so applying 
offered to enter, to be recovered by action of debt in any court of record 
having jurisdiction of the amount. 



PREEMPTIONS. 

[Chapter four, title thirty-two, of the Revised Statutes, embracing 
sections from 2257 to 2288, inclusive, was repealed by the fourth sec- 
tion, act of March 3, 1891 (page 221), except sections 2275, 2270, 2286, 
and 2288, the last being amended by the third section of the same act, 
and the first two by the act of February 28, 1891.] 

Lands subject to preem P - Sec. 2257. All lands belonging to the United States, 
+ i0 2june, 1862, c. 94, s. i, v. to which the Indian title has been or may hereafter be 
12 ' p - 413 -' extinguished, shall be subject to the right of preemp- 

tion, under the conditions, restrictions, and stipulations provided by 
law. 

Lands not sublet to pre- Sec. 2258. The following classes of lands, unless 
e Tsep n t :, mi, c. i6,s. io, v. otherwise specially provided for by law, shall not be 
5 >p- 455 - subject to the rights of preemption, to wit: 

First. Lands included in any reservation by any treaty, law, or procla- 
mation of the President, for any purpose. 

Second. Lands included within the limits of any in- 
498? Josephs T. u. n s.? i n'. corporated town, or selected as the site of a city or 

and H. ,197; Turner v. Amei - , x 1 

can Baptist Union, 5 McLean, tOWI) . 

c^U^LeafsntRuSt! Third. Lands actually settled and occupied for pur- 
poses of trade and business, and not for agriculture. 



Persons entitled to ] 
tion. 

4 Sept., 1841, c. 16, s. 10, 
455. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 147 

Fourth. Lauds on which are situated any kuown salines or mines. 

Sec. 2:259. Every person, being the head of a family, 
or widow, or single person, over the age of twenty-one 
years, and a citizen of the United States, or having 5, &s?«:Fit Z geraid,ispet. 
filed a declaration of intention to become such, as {? V£cun A £Z' „" 
required by the naturalization laws, who has made, or ^^ w ^ 3 ^ h ^ 
hereafter makes, a settlement in person on the public S^Jjj ,? ° J&£]lg g£ 
lands subject to preemption, and who inhabits and im- ^^S rh ^i ) SsS^ 
proves the same, and who has erected or shall erect a Wa "-> 218 - 
dwelling thereon, is authorized to enter with the register of the land 
office for the district in which such land lies, by legal subdivisions, any 
number of acres not exceeding one hundred and sixty, or a quarter 
section of land, to include the residence of such claimant, upon pay- 
ing to the United States the minimum price of such land. 

Sec. 2260. The following clasess of persons, unless Persons not entitled t0 pre . 
otherwise specially provided for by law, shall not Ts5:,i§4i,c.i6,s.io,v. 
acquire any right of preemption under the provisions of 5 'P- 4ift - * 
the preceding sections, to wit: 

First. No person who is the proprietor of three hundred and twenty 
acres of land in any State or Territory. 

Second. No person who quits or abandons his residence on his own 
land to reside on the public land in the same State or Territory. 

Sec. 2261. No person shall be entitled to more than 

. . ■ i j_ i • j_ _c j-i • • .£' Limitation of preemption 

one preemptive right by virtue of the provisions of sec- right. 

a.' . , F , 7 -II i Si.ni • 1 4 Sept., 1841, c. 16, s. 10, v. 

tion twenty-two hundred and nity-nine; nor where a s, P . 455. 3 March, 1843, c . 
party has filed his declaration of intention to claim the 86 ' s - 4 > v - 5 >p- 620 - 
benefits of such provisions, for one tract of land, shall he file, at any 
future time, a second declaration for another tract. 

Sec. 2262. Before any person claiming the benefit of 0ath of preemptionist; 
this chapter is allowed to enter lands, he shall make oath "S^lL?*"?™; *- 13, v. 
before the receiver or register 1 of the land district in 5 >p- 456 ' 
which the land is situated that he has never had the benefit of any right 
ot preemption under section twenty-two hundred and fifty-nine; that 
he is not the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in any 
State or Territory- that he has not settled upon and improved such 
land to sell the same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate 
it to his own exclusive use; and that he has not, directly or indirectly, 
made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any per- 
son whatever, by which the title which he might acquire from the Gov- 
ernment of the United States should inure in whole or in part to the 
benefit of any person except himself; and if any person taking such oath 
swears falsely in the premises, he shall forfeit the money which he may 
have paid for such land, and all right and title to the same; and any 
grant or conveyance which he may have made, except in the bauds of 
bona fide purchasers, for a valuable consideration, shall be null and 
void, except as provided in section twenty- two hundred and eighty- 
eight. And it shall be the duty of the officer administering such oath 
to file a certificate thereof in the public land office of such district, and 
to transmit a duplicate copy to the General Laud Office, either of which 
shall be good and sufficient evidence that such oath was administered 
according to law. 

1 Amended by act of June 9, 1880 (21 Stat., 169) ; Appendix No. 19, page 178, and by 
act of May 26, 1890, page 213. 



148 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Sec. 2263. Prior to any entries being made under 

Proof of settlement; as- , -, . . n , , . . „ . . , . . . 

signment of preemption and by virtue ot the provisions oi section twenty-two 
"I sept., i84i, c. i6,s. 12, v. hundred and fifty-nine, proof of the settlement and 
5 'Lytie 6 ;. Arkansas, 9 how., iiupro vement thereby required shall be made to the 
i4Howr37WBa™aTdt s He1i?s satisfaction of the register and receiver of the land 
^^ffianfT'wyn^o district in which such lands lie, agreeably to such rules 
^h'ow^K H^knesT": as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior; 

Underhill, 1 Bl., 325; Lind J n • j. j x j? n j_ l • <t . i -u 

se. y v. Hawse, 2 bl, 554, and all assignments and transfers of the right hereby 
Myers*. Croft, i3 Wan., 29i r secure( ^ p r i or to the issuing of the patent, shall be 

null and void. 

statement to be filed by Sec. 2264. When any person settles or improves a 
cfaX o w n ith ianl ent S ubjecrt r o tract of land subject at the time of settlement to pri- 
pr 4 v sept?,T84i, c. i6, s. is, v. vate entry, and intends to imrchase the same under 
5,p - 457 - the preceding provisions of this chapter, he shall, 

within thirty days after the date of such settlement, file with the register 
of the proper district a written statement, describing the land settled 
upon, and declaring his intention to claim the same under the pre- 
emption laws; and he shall, moreover, within twelvemonths after the 
date of such settlement, make the proof, affidavit, and payment here- 
inbefore required. If he fails to file such written statement, or to make 
such affidavit, proof, and payment within the several periods named 
above, the tract of land so settled and improved shall be subject to the 
entry of any other purchaser. 1 

ciaim filed by settler on Sec. 2265. Every claimant under the preemption Law 
la 3M^f78l3; m c? d 86! r s. sa 5! e ;. for land not yet proclaimed for sale is required to make 
5 'johns on .. Tawsiey, 13 known his claim, in writing, to the register of the proper 
Wall > 72 - land office within three months from the time of the 

settlement, giving the designation of the tract and the time of settle- 
ment; otherwise his claim shall be forfeited and the tract awarded to 
the next settler, in the order of time, on the same tract of land, who has 
given such notice and otherwise complied with the conditions of the law. 1 

Declaratory R tatement of Sec. 2266. In regard to settlements which are author- 

settlers on unsurveyed land, .-, iitj.i j.' l J. 

when filed. rzed upon unsurveyed lands, the preemption claimant 

i2fp M 4H). 1862 ' c ' 86 ' s 7 ' v ' shall be in all cases required to file his declaratory state- 
ment within three months from the date of the receipt at the district 
land office of the approved plat of the township embracing such pre- 
emption settlement. 1 

preemption claimants; Sec. 2267. All claimants of preemption rights under 
w e me°nt. making pr00f and the two preceding sections shall, when no shorter time 
vA 4 6, J p.' y 27^ 7 3 Mar!, 2 'i87i; is prescribed by law, make the proper proof and pay- 
Res.52,V.i6,p.eoi.'' ' men t for the land claimed within thirty months after 
the date prescribed therein, respectively, for filing their declaratory 
notices has expired. 

Sec. 2268. Where a pre emptor has taken the initia- 
tai E n1^efto°™ns e in n m c m: tory steps required by law in regard to actual settle- 
u 7i &™iroCr«fc 5, v. ment, and is called away from such settlement by being 
13,p - 35 - engaged in the military or naval service of the United 

States, and by reason of such absence is unable to appear at the district 
land office to make before the register or receiver the affidavit, proof, 
and payment, respectively, required by the preceding provisions of this 
chapter, the time for filing such affidavit and making final proof and 
entry or location shall be extended six months after the expiration of 

1 In regard to cases thereafter arising under sections 2264, 2265, and 2266, the act of 
May 18, 1898 (30 Stat., 418), abolished the distinction between offered and unoffered 
lands, and enacted that the land in question in such cases shall be treated as unof- 
fered. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 149 

his term of service, upon satisfactory proof by affidavit, or the testi- 
mony of witnesses, that such pre-emptor is so in the service, being 
filed" with the register of the land office for the district in which his 
settlement is made. 

Sej. 2269. Where a party entitled to claim the bene- 
fits of the preemption laws dies before consummating ingcfaimiVhotoc^Skte, 
his claim, by filing in due time all the papers essential e a Mar., i843, c . 86, B .2,v. 
to the establishment of the same, it shall be competent 0,P ' 6S 
for the executor or administrator of the estate of such party, or one of 
his heirs, to file the necessary papers to complete the same; but the 
entry in such cases shall be made in favor of the heirs of the deceased 
pre-emptor, and a patent thereon shall cause the title to inure to such 
heirs, as if their names had been specially mentioned. 

Sec. 2270. Whenever the vacancy of the office either Non . compliance with laws 
of register or receiver, or of both, renders it impossible ™ d .J>y vacanc ? 



egister or receiver not to 

for the claimant to comply with any requisition of the ^"j^;^, e.u, s.e.v. 
preemption laws within the appointed time, such va- 5 >p- 620 -' 
cancy shall not operate to the detriment of the party claiming, in respect 
to any matter essential to the establishment of his claim ; but such 
requisition must be complied with within the same period after the dis- 
ability is removed as would have been allowed had such disability not 
existed. 

Sec. 2271. The provisions of this chapter shall be so 
construed as not to confer on anyone a right of pre- S ow\uTn?t pt c°onnrmed an by 
emption, by reason of a settlement made on a tract ^TTug^mz, c.205, v. 5, 
theretofore disposed of, when such disposal has not p ' 534 ' 
been confirmed by the General Land Office, on account of any alleged 
defect therein. 

Sec. 2272. Nothing in the provisions of this chapter 
shall be construed to preclude any person, who may »fte? r «pi»tiL p of a pree^p y - 
have filed a notice of intention to claim any tract of tl0 ° Mir.*; 1343, c . 8 6, s. 9, v. 
land by preemption, from the right allowed by law to 5 ' p ' 621 ' 
others to purchase such tract by private entry after the expiration of 
the right of preemption. 

Sec. 2273. When two or more persons settle on the 
same tract of land, the right of preemption shall be in ti^^ghu^o^^^u, 
him who made the first settlement, provided such person c T£2£Cmi, <=. ie, ■. u, v. 
conforms to the other provision of the law; and all l^s.^v/nf^Iie 1 . 858 ' °" 
questions as to the right of preemption arising between nc^lf GlhJdS^ynn, 
different settlers shall be determined by the register and Haw" "? ml, uSfv/LZ 
receiver of the district within which the land is situated ; 109* j'aSS^riiaS^ 
and appeals from the decision of district officers, in Wal1 - 7 -- 
cases of contest for the right of preemption, shall be made to the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office, whose decision shall be final, 
unless appeal therefrom be taken to the Secretary of Interior. 

Sec. 2274. When settlements have been made upon 
agricultural public lands of the United States prior to V ^ZTL™::Z,ZZ 
the survey thereof, and it has been or shall be ascer- b 1°MM.7i873, c . 233, s . 1, 
tained after the public surveys have been extended v ' 17 ' p " 609 " 
over such lands, that two or more settlers have improvements upon the 
same legal subdivision, it shall be lawful for such settlers to make joint 
entry of their lands at the local land office, or for either of said settlers 
to enter into contract with his co-settlers to convey to them their por- 
tion of said land after a patent is issued to him, and, after making such 
contract, to file a declaratory statement in his own name, and .>rove up 
and pay for said land, and proof of joint occupation by himself and 



150 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

others, and of such contract with them made, shall oe equivalent to 
proof of sole occupation and pre-emption by the applicant : Provided, 
That in no case shall the amount patented under this section exceed 
oue hundred and sixty acres, nor shall this section apply to lands not 
subject to homestead or pre-emption entry. 

Sec. 2275. Where settlements, with a view to pre- 
on Se S ection nt i S 6 wS^dSS emption, have been made before the survey of the 
"mfS^Ibb, c 58, v. ii, lands in the field, which are found to have been made 
p ' 385 ' on sections sixteen or thirty-six, those sections shall 

be subject to the preemption claim of such settler ; and if they, or either 
of them, have been or shall be reserved or pledged for the use of schools 
or colleges in the State or Territory in which the lands lie, other lands 
of like quantity are appropriated in lieu of such as may be patented by 
preemptors; and other lands are also appropriated to compensate defi- 
ciencies for school purposes, where sections sixteen or thirty-six are 
fractional in quantity, or where one or both are wanting by reason of 
the township being fractional, or from any natural cause whatever. 

[Section 2275 was amended by act of February 28, 1891, 26 Stat., 
p. 796, to read as follows, viz : 

Sec. 2275. Where settlements, with a view to pre emption or homestead, have been 
or shall hereafter be made before the survey of the lands in the field, which are 
found to have been made on sections sixteen or thirty-six, those sections shall be sub- 
ject to the claims of such settlers; and if such sections, or either of them, have been 
or shall be granted, reserved, or pledged for the use of schools or colleges in the 
State or Territory in which they lie, other lands of equal acreage are hereby appro- 
priated and granted, and may be selected by said State or Territory, in lieu of such 
as may be thus taken by preemption or homestead settlers. And other lands of 
equal acreage are also hereby appropriated and granted, and may be selected by said 
State or Territory, where sections sixteen or thirty-six are mineral land, or are 
included within any Indian, military, or other reservation, or are otherwise disposed 
of by the United States: Provided, Where any State is entitled to said sections 
sixteen and thirty-six, or where said sections are reserved to any Territory, notwith- 
standing the same may be mineral land or embraced within a military, Indian, or 
other reservation, the selection of such lands in lieu thereof by said State or Territory 
shall be a waiver of its right to said sections. And other lands of equal acreage are 
also hereby appropriated and granted, and may be selected by said State or Territory, 
to compensate deficiencies for school purposes where sections sixteen or thirty-six are 
fractional in quantity, or where one or both are wanting by reason of the township 
being fractional, or from any natural cause whatever. And it shall be the duty of 
the Secretary of the Interior, without awaiting the extension of the public surveys, 
to ascertain and determine, by protraction or otherwise, the number of townships 
that will be included within such Indian, military, or other reservations, and there- 
upon the State or Territory shall be entitled to select indemnity lands to the extent 
of two sections for each of said townships in lieu of sections sixteen and thirty-six 
therein; but such selections may not be made within the boundaries of said reserva- 
tions: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall prevent any State or 
Territory from awaiting the extinguishment of any such military, Indian, or other 
reservation and the restoration of the lands therein embraced to the public domain 
and then taking the sections sixteen and thirty-six in place therein; but nothing in 
this proviso shall be construed as conferring any right not now existing.] 

Sec. 2276. The lands appropriated by the preceding 
cie S ne\ e e?oTLLi s ffl defi " section shall be selected, within the same land district, 
p. 2 88? b 2b 1 M2v > c i826,^.8 1 3, in accordance with the following principles of adjust- 
s ' '' v ' 4 ' p " 179 ' ment, to wit : For each township or fractional township 

containing a greater quantity of land than three-quarters of an entire 
township, one section ; for a fractional township containing a greater 
quantity of land than one half, and not more than three-quarters, of a 
township, three quarters of a section ; for a fractional township con- 
taining a greater quantity of land than one-quarter, and not more than 
one-half, of a township, one-half section; and for a fractional township 
containing a greater quantity of land than one entire section, and not 
more than one-quarter, of a township, one-quarter section of land. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 151 

[Section 2276 was amended by act of February 28, 1891, 20 Stat., 790, 
to read as follows, viz : 

Sec. 2276. That the lands appropriated hy the preceding section shall bo selected 
from any unappropriated, surveyed public lands, not mineral iu character, within 
the State or Territory where such losses or deficiencies of school sections occur; and 
where the selections are to compensate for deficiencies of school lands in fractional 
townships, such selections shall be made in accordance with the following principles 
of adjustment, to wit: For each township or fractional township containing a greater 
quantity of land than three-quarters of an entire township, one section; for a frac- 
tional township containing a greater quantity of land than one-half, and not more 
than three-quarters of a township, three-quarters of a section ; for a fractional town- 
ship containing a greater quantity of land than one-quarter, aud not more than one- 
half of a township, one-half section; and for a fractional township containing a 
greater quantity of land than one entire section, and not more than one-quarter of a 
township, one-quarter section of land : Prorided, That the States or Territories which 
are, or shall be entitled to both the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in place, 
shall have the right to select double the amounts named to compensate for deficien- 
cies of school land in fractional townships.] 

Sec. 2277. All warrants for military bounty lands, J?SaJ5!Stt^t5? 
which are issued under any law of the United States, "mSK^mo^m,,.!,* 
shall be received in payment oi preemption rights at 10p3 - 
the rate of one dollar and twenty live cents per acre, for the quantity 
of land therein specified ; but where the land is rated at one dollar and 
twenty -five cents per acre, and does not exceed the area specified in the 
warrant, it must be taken in full satisfaction thereof. 

Sec. 2278. Agricultural- college scrip, issued to any 
State under the act approved July second, eighteen r ec 1^ab a "mpVy c m"nt e of s ?r^ 
hundred and sixty-two, or acts amendatory thereof, shall e Tju?y 8 ; mo, e . im, v. ie, 
be received from actual settlers in payment of preemp- p ' 186 * 
tion claims iu the same manner and to the same extent as authorized 
in case of military bounty-land warrants by the preceding section. 

Sec. 2279. No person shall have the right of pre- Preemption Km* ai ong 
emption to more than one hundred and sixty acres along ^X^Tsss, c . uz, v. ™, 
the line of railroads within the limits granted by any p - 244 - 
act of Congress. 

Sec. 2280. Any settler on lands heretofore reserved 
on account of claims under French, Spanish, or other re %V£ v t™^£ tw^S- 
grants which have been or may be hereafter declared v t Mar., ms, c . uz, v . io, 
by the Supreme Court of the United States to be in- p ' 244 ' 
valid, shall be entitled to all the rights of preemption granted by the 
preceding provisions of this chapter, after the lands have been released 
from reservation, in the same manner as if no reservation had existed. 

Sec. 228 L. All settlers on public lauds which have 
been or may be withdrawn from market in consequence t£^S K r^tS£ k1 ^' 
of proposed railroads, and who had settled thereon prior P . swJ 1 "? iuu 4 ; %m;Z:m', 
to such withdrawal, shall be entitled to preemption 8 - 2 > v - 16 'P- 270 - 
at the ordinary minimum to the lands settled on and cultivated by them ; 
but they shall file the proper notices of their claims aud make proof 
and payment as in other cases. 

Sec. 2282. Nothing contained in this chapter shall Sale of laDd not t0 be de _ 
delay the sale of any of the public lands beyond the time "TUJimi,* «, 8 . u, v. 
appointed by the proclamation of the President. *,*&•' 

Sec. 2283. The Osage Indian trust and diminished- Certain land8 in Kansas 
reserve lands in the State oi Kansas, excepting the six- h 7^S; c . I49> s . 1; v . 
teenth and thirty sixth sections in each township, shall 17 >p- 90 -" 
be subject to disposal, for cash only, to actual settlers, in quantities not 
exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, or one-quarter section to each, 
in compact form, in accordance with the general principles of the pre- 
emption laws, under the direction of the Commissioner of the General 



152 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Land Office; but claimants shall file their declaratory statements as 
prescribed in other cases upon un offered lands, and shall pay for the 
tracts, respectively, settled upon within one year from date of settle- 
ment where the plat of survey is on file at that date, and within one 
year from the filing of the township plat in the district office where 
such plat is not on file at date of settlement. 

. Sec. 2284. The sale or transfer of his claim upon any 
pr?o r r ans to e , r et f c., abo subse5ue^ portion of these lands by any settler prior to the twenty- 
r, l b May™8?2, c. 149, s. 3, v. sixth day of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, 
shall not operate to preclude the right of entry, under 
the provisions of the preceding section, upon another tract settled upon 
subsequent to such sale or transfer; but satisfactory proot of good 
faith must be furnished upon such subsequent settlement. 

Sec. 2285. The restrictions of the preemption laws, 
notto^pJSTto certain finds contained in sections twenty- two hundred and sixty and 
m 9 K Ma^i872,c.i49, s .3,v. twenty- two hundred aod sixty one, shall not apply to 
any settler on the Osage Indian trust and diminished- 
reserve lands in the State of Kansas, who was actually residing on his 
claim on the ninth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy two. 

preemption by counties Sec. 2280. There sh all be granted to the several coun- 
ft 96 B a£^fiS^.i69 i «.i, ties or parishes of each State and Territory, where 
v - 4,p - 50, there are public lands, at the minimum price for which 

public lands of the United States are sold, the right of preemption to 
one quarter- section of land, in each of the counties or parishes, in trust 
for such counties or parishes, respectively, for the establishment of 
seats of justice therein; but the proceeds of the sale of each such 
quarter- section shall be appropriated for the purpose of erecting pub- 
lic buildings in the county or parish for which it is located, after 
deducting therefrom the amount originally paid for the same. And the 
seat of justice for such counties or parishes, respectively, shall be fixed 
previously to a sale of the adjoining lands within the county or parish 
for which the same is located. 

wwe claimant of entry Sec. 2287. Any bona fide settler under the homestead 
^oTp'r^tc-li^e": or preemption laws of the United States who has filed 
17pl ° the proper application to enter not to exceed one quar- 

ter-section of the public lands in any district land office, and who has 
been subsequently appointed a register or receiver, may perfect the 
title to the land under the preemption laws by furnishing the proofs 
and making the payments required by law to the satisfaction of the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office. 

Right of transfer of settlers Sec. 2288. Any person who has already settled or 
tion e, iaws m for te trtain^wic hereafter may settle on the public lands, either by pre- 
p, A?ro1'3 Mar., 1873, c 266, emption or by virtue of the homestead law or any 
vl7p602 - amendments thereto, shall have the right to transfer, 

by warranty against his own acts, any portion of his preemption or 
homestead for church, cemetery, or school purposes, and for the right 
of way of railroad across such preemption or homestead, and the trans- 
fer for such public purposes shall in no way vitiate the right to com- 
plete and perfect the title to their preemptions or homesteads. 

[Section 3 of the act of March 3, 1891, page 222, enacts that section 
twenty-two hundred and eighty-eight of the Eevised Statutes be 
amended so as to read as follows: 

Sec. 2288. Any bona fide settler under the preemption, homestead, or other settle- 
ment law shall have the right to transfer, by warranty against his own acts, any 
portion of his claim for church, cemetery, or school purposes, or for the right of way 
of railroads, canals, reservoirs, or ditches for irrigation or drainage across it; and 
the transfer for such public purposes shall in no way vitiate the right to complete 
and perfect the title to his claim.] 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 153 

HOMESTEADS. 

Sec. 2289. Every person who is the head of a family, who may enter certain un . 
or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and ?^E5JSfi; b S ! , 1 5ft, T . 
is a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his ^p- 39 *-' 
declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturaliza- 
tion laws, shall be entitled to enter one quarter- section or a less quan- 
tity of unappropriated public lands, upon which such person may have 
filed a pre-emption claim, or which may, at the time the application is 
made, be subject to preemption at one dollar and twenty-five cents per 
acre ; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated lands at two dollars 
and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity to the 
legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same have been 
surveyed. And every person owning and residing on land may, under 
the provisions of this section, enter other land lying contiguous to his 
land, which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, 
exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres. 

Sec. 2290. The person applying for the benefit of the Mode o£ procedure . 
preceding section shall, upon application to the register v .^l n V m tbmly;ikl', 
of the land-office in which he is about to make such entry, mX.S&VW*- ft : - "! 
make affidavit before the register or receiver that he is p - 35 - 
the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, or has per- 
formed service in the Army or Navy of the United States, and that 
such application is made for his exclusive use and benefit, and that his 
entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and 
not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other per- 
son; and upon filing such affidavit with the register or receiver, on 
payment of five dollars when the entry is of not more than eighty 
acres, and on payment of ten dollars when the entry is for more than 
eighty acres, he shall thereupon be permitted to enter the amount of 
land specified. 

Section 5 of the act of March 3, 1891, page 223, enacts, That sections 
twenty-two hundred and eighty-nine and twenty-two hundred and 
ninety, in said chapter numbered 5 of the Eevised Statutes, be, and 
the same are hereby, amended, so that they shall read as follows : 

Sec. 2289. Every person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the 
age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his 
declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, 
shall be entitled to enter one quarter-section, or a less quantity, of unappropriated 
public lands, to be located in a body in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the 
public lands; but no person who is the proprietor of more than one hundred and 
sixty acres of land in any State or Territory shall acquire any right under the home- 
stead law. And every person owning and residing on land may, under the provi- 
sions of this section, enter other land lying contiguous to his land, which shall not, 
with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred 
and sixty acres. 

Sec. 2290. That any person applying to enter land under the preceding section 
shall first make and subscribe before the proper officer and file in the proper land 
office an affidavit that he or she is the head of a family, or is over twenty-one years 
of age, and that sucn application is honestly and in good faith made for the purpose 
of actual settlement and cultivation, and not for the benefit of any other person, 
persons, or corporation, and that he or she will faithfully and honestly endeavor to 
comply with all the requirements of law as to settlement, residence, and cultivation 
necessary to acquire title to the land applied for; that he or she is not acting as 
agent of any person, corporation, or syndicate in making such entry, nor in collusion 
with any person, corporation, or syndicate to give them the benefit of the land 
entered, or any part thereof, or the timber thereon ; that he or she does not apply to 
enter the same for the purpose of speculation, but in good faith to obtain a home for 
himself, or herself, and that he or she has not directly or indirectly made, and will 
not make, any agreement or contract in any way or manner, with any person or per- 
sons, corporation, or syndicate whatsoever, by which the title which he or she might 
acquire from the Government of the United States should inure, in whole or in part, 



154 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

to the benefit of any person, except himself, or herself, and upon filing such affidavit 
with the register or receiver on payment of five dollars, when the entry is of not 
more than eighty acres, and on payment of ten dollars when the entry is for more 
than eighty acres, he or she shall thererpon be permitted to enter the amount of 
land specified. 

cer^cate and patent. Sec. 2291. No certificate, however, shall be given, or 
^wunirwe'Tm, b. 2, patent issued therefor, until the expiration of five years 
v 14 > p 6 ^ from the date of such entry ; aud if at the expiration of 

such time, or at any time within two years thereafter, the person mak- 
ing such entry; or if he be dead, his widow; or in case of her death, 
his heirs or devisee ; or in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs 
or devisee, in case of her death, proves by two credible witnesses that 
he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term 
of five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit, 
and makes affidavit that no part of such land has been alienated, except 
as provided in section twenty-two hundred and eighty-eight, and that 
he, she, or they, will bear true allegiance to the Government of the 
United States; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time citi- 
zens of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases 
provided by law. 

when rights inure to the Sec. 2292. In case of the death of both father and 
be ?i efi j?nefiX c c h . i m e , n ' s . 2. mother, leaving an infant child or children under 
v - 14 ' p - 6 *- twen ty-one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to 

the benefit of such infant child or children; and the executor, adminis- 
trator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death 
of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the State 
in which such children, for the time being, have their domicile, sell the 
land for the benefit of such infants, but for no other purpose; and the 
purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be 
entitled to a patent from the United States on the payment of the 
office fees and sum of money above specified. 

Sec. 2293. In case of auv person desirous of availing 

Persons in military or naval -,. ,/. .,,, ■• n , r. . V • l j. Tj_i i 

service, when and before whom himself ot the benefits oi this chapter, but who, by rea- 

to make affidavit. i» i -t • ■ n • i.j i • /• 

si Mar., 1864, c. 38, s. 4, son ot actual service in the military or naval service of 
the United States, is unable to do the personal pre- 
liminary acts at the district land office which the preceding sections 
require; and whose family, or some member thereof, is residing on the 
land which he desires to enter, and upon which a bona fide improve- 
ment and settlement have been made, such person may make the affi- 
davit required by law before the officer commanding in the branch of 
the service in which the party is engaged, which affidavit shall be as 
binding in law, and with like penalties, as if taken before the register 
or receiver; and upon such affidavit being filed with the register by the 
wife or other representative of the party, the same shall become effective 
from the date of such filing, provided the application and affidavit are 
accompanied by the fee and commissions as required by law. 

when persons may make Sec. 2294. In any case in which the applicant for the 
affi 2i a Ma b r?, f0 5i86i! r c.l8 c , s'.' t 3, benefit of the homestead, and whose family, or some 
v - 13, p - 35 - member thereof, is residing on the land which he desires 

to enter, and upon which a bona fide improvement and settlement have 
been made, is prevented, by reason of distauce, bodily infirmity, or 
other good cause, from personal attendance at the district land office, 
it may be lawful for him to make the affidavit required by law before 
the clerk of the court for the county in which the applicant is an actual 
resident, and to transmit the same, with the fee and commissions, to 
the register and receiver. 1 

1 Amended hy the act of May 26, 1890, page 213. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 155 

Sec. 2295. The register of the land office shall note 
all applications under the provisions of this chapter on «o!£v,^8ePSw^a,Y. 
the tract books and plats of his office, and keep a reg- 12 ' p ' 89 
ister of all such entries, and make return thereof to the General Land 
Office, together with the proof upon which they have been founded. 

Sec. 2296. No lands acquired under the provisions 
of this chapter shall in any event become liable to the ™8^^K*| , % , i .4 v. 
satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing 12, p. 3$ 
of the patent therefor. 

Sec. 2297. If, at any time after the filing of the affi- 

,.. .-,." .. . .. -i -i i i When lands entered for 

davit, as required 111 section twenty-two hundred and homestead revert to Gove™. 
niuety, and before the expiration of the five years men- me 20May, lsea.c. tb, 8 . 5, v . 
tioned in section twenty- two hundred and ninety one, 12p ' 3£ 
it is proved, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the 
register of the land office, that the person having filed such affidavit 
has actually changed his residence, or abandoned the land for more 
than six months at any time, then and in that event the land so entered 
shall revert to the Government: [Provided, That where there maybe 
climatic reasons the Commissioner of the General Land Office may, in 
his discretion, allow the settler twelve months from the date of filing in 
which to commence his residence on said land under such rules and 
regulations as he may prescribe.] 1 

Sec. 2298. No person shall be permitted to acquire 



Limitation of amount en- 



title to more than one quarter- section under the pro- ^fu^Z^T*™, s . s, v . 
visions of this chapter. 12, P . 393.' 

Sec. 2299. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be Existmg preem ption rights 
so construed as to impair or interfere in any manner ^Xji, c . 75, 8 . e, v. 
with existing preemption rights; and all persons who 12 >p- 393 -' 
may have filed their applications for a preemption right prior to the 
twentieth day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, shall be entitled 
to all the privileges of this chapter. 

Sec. 2300. No person who has served, or may here- mat minors may have the 
after serve, for a period not less than fourteen days in ^^tm^t^Xv. 
the Army or Navy of the United States, either regu- ' 2 >p- 393 -' 
lar or volunteer, under the laws thereof, during the existence of an 
actual war, domestic or foreign, shall be deprived of the benefits of this 
chapter on account of not having attained the age of twenty-one years. 

Sec. 2301. Nothing in this chapter shall be so con- 
strued as to prevent any person who has availed him- tZ ay T&% y b efr D s?ngn?s ,r of 
self of the benefits of section twenty-two hundred and ap 2 p oMay, isbs.c. 75,8.3, v. 
eighty-nine from paying the minimum price for the 12 ' p - 393 
quantity of land so entered, at any time before the expiration of the 
five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the Government, as in 
other cases directed by law, on making proof of settlement and culti- 
vation as provided by law, granting preemption rights. 2 

[Section 6 of the act of March 3, 1891, page 223, enacts that section 
twenty-three hundred and one of the Revised Statutes be amended so 
as to read as follows : 

"Sec. 2301. Nothing in this chapter shall be so construed as to prevent any person 
who shall hereafter avail himself of the benehts of section twenty-two hundred and 
eighty-nine from paying the minimum price for the quantity of land so entered at 
any time after the expiration of fourteen calendar months from the date of such entry, 
and obtaining a patent therefor, upon making proof of settlement and of residence 

1 The portion within hrackets is an amendment, added by act of March 3, 1881 (21 
Stat., 511, p. 181). 

8 See act of June 9, 1880 (21 Stat., 169), page 178; and act of May 26, 1890, page 213. 



156 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

and cultivation for such period of fourteen months," and the provision of this sec- 
tion shall apply to lands on the ceded portion of the Sioux Reservation by act 
approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, in South Dakota, but shall 
not relieve said settlers from any payments now required by law.] 

no distinction on account Sec. 2302. Ko distinction shall be made in the con- 
* f 2i a j e u^ r e, c i 1 86 r 6 > e c. c 'i27 > s. i, struction or execution of this chapter on account of race 
vl4,p 6 ^ or color; nor shall any mineral lands be liable to entry 

and settlement under its provisions. 

Sec. 2303. All the public lands in the States of Ala- 
v . 2 iVp. n 67. 1866 ' c ' '' bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida 

22 e ?une, is76, c. 165, v. i9, shall be disposed of in no other manner than according 
to the terms and stipulations contained in the preced- 
ing provisions of this chapter. 1 

soldiers- and sailors' home- Sec. 2304. Every private soldier and officer who has 
8te 8 a june, 1372, c. 338, s. i, served in the Army of the United States during the 
vn p 333 - recent rebellion, for ninety days, and who was honor- 

ably discharged, and has remained loyal to the Government, including 
the troops mustered into the service of the United States by virtue of 
the third section of an act approved February thirteenth, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty-two, and every seaman, marine, and officer who has 
served in the Navy of the United States, or in the Marine Corps, dur- 
ing the rebellion, for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, 
and has remained loyal to the Government, shall, on compliance with 
the provisions of this chapter, as hereinafter modified, be entitled to 
enter upon and receive patents for a quantity of public lands not exceed- 
ing one hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter section, to be taken in 
compact form, according to legal subdivisions, including the alternate 
reserved sections of public land along the line of any railroad or other 
public work, not otherwise reserved or appropriated, and other lauds 
subject to entry under the homestead laws of the United States; but 
such homestead settler shall be allowed six months after locating his 
homestead, and filing his declaratory statement, within which to make 
his entry and commence his settlement and improvement. 

Deduction of military and Sec. 2305. The time which the homestead settler has 
"TjuTefisTtT'S's^i, served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps shall be 
vl7p - 333 - deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect 

title, or if discharged on account of wounds received or disability in- 
curred in the line of duty, then the term of enlistment shall be deducted 
from the time heretofore required to perfect *itle, without reference to 
the length of time he may have served; but no patent shall issue to 
any homestead settler who has not resided upon, improved, and culti- 
vated his homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall have 
commenced his improvements. 

persons who have entered Sec. 2306. Every person entitled, under the provi- 
le s June, iraTTsasfil, *'. sions of section twenty-three hundred and four, to enter 
17,p - 333 - a homestead who may have heretofore entered, under 

the homestead laws, a quantity of land less than one hundred and sixty 
acres, shall be permitted to enter so much land as, when added to the 
quantity previously entered, shall not exceed one hundred and sixty 
acres. 

Sec. 2307. In case of the death of any person who 
of^errns an e d n tXd°to h hom e e n would be entitled to a homestead under the provisions 
ste 8 a jun t e c ;i872,c. 338,s.3, v. of section two thousand three hundred and four, his 
17p 333 ' widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or mar- 

riage, then his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly appointed 
and officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, shall be 

1 Repealed by act of June 22, 1876 (19 Stat., 73). 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 157 

entitled to all the benefits enumerated in this chapter, subject to all 
the provisions as to settlement and improvement therein contained; 
but if such person died daring his term of enlistment, the whole term 
of his enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required 
to perfect the title. 

Sec. 2308. Where a party at the date of his entry of 
a tract of land under the homestead laws, or subse- or A Nav% s equiv e ai"nt h to A r«f- 
quently thereto, was actually enlisted and employed in d T.u°tm«, .388s.4,v. 
the Army or Navy of the United States, his services I7p ' 3 ' 
therein shall, in the administration of such homestead laws, be construed 
to be equivalent, to all intents and purposes, to a residence for the same 
length of time upon the tract so entered. And if his entry has been 
canceled by reason of his absence from such tract while in the military 
or naval service of the United States, and such tract has not been dis- 
posed of, his entry shall be restored; but if such tract has.been disposed 
of, the party may enter another tract subject to entry under the home- 
stead laws, and his right to a patent therefor may be determined by the 
proofs touching his residence and cultivation of the first tract and his 
absence therefrom in such service. 

Sec. 2309. Every soldier, sailor, marine, officer, or 
other person coming within the provisions of section s jun^iln^m, s e Cv. 
two thousand three hundred and four, may, as well by 17p 334 
an agent as in person, enter upon such homestead by filing a declara- 
tory statement, as in preemption cases; but such claimant in person 
shall within the time prescribed make his actual entry, commence set- 
tlements and improvements on the same, and thereafter fulfill all the 
requiremer^s of law. 

Sec. 2310. Each of the chiefs, warriors, and heads of Chiefs> etc-> of stockbridge 
families of the Stockbridge, Munsee tribes of lndiaus *i^f^£g£ 1 $$% 
residing in the county of Shawano, State of Wisconsin, v - 13 > *■ 6 ' 62 - 
may, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, enter a home- 
stead and become entitled to all the benefits of this chapter, free from 
any fee or charge; and any part of their present reservation, which is 
abandoned for that purpose, may be sold, under the direction of the 
Secretary of the Interior, and the proceeds applied for the benefit of 
such Indians as may settle on homesteads, to aid them in improving 
the same. 

Sec. 2311. The homestead secured by virtue of the Exemption of homestead of 
preceding section, shall not be subject to any tax, levy, B * B »SS! a ww!^m, s .4, 
or sale; nor shall it be sold, conveyed, mortgaged, or in v - 13 - *>■ 562 - 
any manner encumbered, except upon the decree of the district court of 
the United States, as provided in the following section : 

Sec. 2312. Whenever any of the chiefs, warriors, or Stockbridge Munsee3 be . 
heads of families of the tribes mentioned in section ^K^iseis, <•. i •>:,*. 4, 
twenty- three hundred and ten, having filed with the vl3 -p- 562 - 
clerk of the district court of the United States a declaration of his inten- 
tions to become a citizen of the United States, and to dissolve all rela- 
tions with any Indian tribe, two years previous thereto, appears in such 
court, and proves to the satisfaction thereof, by the testimony of two 
citizens, that for five years last past he has adopted the habits of civi- 
lized life; that he has maintained himself and family by his own indus- 
try; that he reads and speaks the English language; that he is well 
disposed to become a peaceable and orderly citizen ; and that he has 
sufficient capacity to manage his own affairs; the court may enter a 
decree admitting him to all the rights of a citizen of the United States, 
and thenceforth he shall be no longer held or treated as a member of 
any Indian tribe, but shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges, 



158 TITLE TO PUBLIC LATOS. 

and be subject to all the duties and liabilities to taxation of other citi- 
zens of the United States. But nothing herein contained shall be con- 
strued to deprive such chiefs, warriors, or heads of families of annuities 
to which they are or may be entitled. 



PUBLIC SALES AND PRIVATE ENTRIES. 

Sec. 2353. All the public lands, the sale of which is authorized by 
law, shall, when offered at public sale to the highest bidder, be offered 
in half quarter- sections. 

Sec. 2354. All the public lands, when offered at private sale, may 
be purchased at the option of the purchaser in entire sections, half- 
sections, quarter-sections, half quarter- sections, or quarter quarter- 
sections. 

Sec. 2355. Every person making application at any of the land offices 
of the United States for the purchase at private sale of a tract of land 
shall produce to the register a memorandum in writing, describing the 
tract, which he shall enter by the proper number of the section, half- 
section, quarter-section, half quarter-section, or quarter quarter-section, 
as the case may be, and of the township and range, subscribing his 
name thereto, which memorandum the register shall file and preserve 
in his office. 

Sec. 2357. The price at which the public lands are offered for sale 
shall be one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre; and at every public 
sale, the highest bidder who makes payment as provided in the preced- 
ing section shall be the purchaser; but no land shall be sold, either at 
public or private sale, for a less price than one dollar and twenty-five 
cents an acre; and all the public lands which are hereafter offered at 
public sale according to law, and remain unsold at the close of such 
public sales, shall be subject to be sold at private sale, by entry at the 
land office, at one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, to be paid at the 
time of making such entry : Provided, That the price to be paid for 
alternate reserved lands along the line of railroads within the limits 
granted by any act of Congress shall be two dollars and fifty cents per 
acre. 

[The first section of the act of March 2, 1889 (page 187), enacts that 
from and after the passage of that act "no public lands of the United 
States, except those in the State of Missouri, shall be subject to private 
entry."] 

Sec. 2358. Whenever the President is authorized to cause the public 
lands in any land district to be offered for sale, he may offer for sale, 
at first, only a part of the lands contained in such district, and at any 
subsequent time or times he may offer for sale in the same manner any 
other part, or the remainder of the land contained in the same. 

Sec. 2359. The public lands which are exposed to public sale by order 
of the President shall be advertised for a period of not less than three 
nor more than six months prior to the day of sale, unless otherwise 
specially provided. 

Sec. 2360. The public sales of lands shall, respectively, be kept open 
for two weeks, and no longer, unless otherwise specially provided by law. 

[Section 9 of the act of March 3, 1891, (page 224) enacts — 

That hereafter no public lands of the United States, except abandoned military or 
other reservations, isolated and disconnected fractional tracts authorized to be sold 
by section twenty-four hundred and fifty-five of the Revised Statutes, and mineral 
and other lands the sale of which at public auction has been authorized by acts of 
Congress of a special nature having local application, shall be sold at public sale.] 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 159 

REPAYMENTS. 



money refunded 
can not be con- 



Sec. 2362. The Secretary of the Interior is author- Purchase 
ized, upon proof being made, to his satisfaction, that ^ed. sale 
any tract of land has been erroneously sold by the 80 ]\{™l b ™&*X'&X 
United States, so that from any cause the sale can not ^-".p- 387 - 
be confirmed, to repay to the purchaser, or to his legal representatives 
or assignees, the sum of money which was paid therefor, out of any 
money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 1 

Sec. 2363. Where any tract of land has beenerrone- Refnnding in ceTtain cases . 
ously sold, as described in the preceding section, and ho ^ F e ° b n *- 18 59, c . 64, s . % v. 
the money which was paid for the same has been in- n >p- 388 - 
vested in any stocks held iu trust, or has been paid into the Treasury 
to the credit of any trust fund, it is lawful, by the sale of such portion 
of the stocks as may be necessary for the purpose, or out of such 
trust-fund, to repay the purchase-money to the parties entitled thereto. 



DEPOSITS FOR SPECIAL SURVEYS. 

Sec. 2401. 2 When the settlers in any township, not mineral or reserved 
by Government, desire a survey made of the same, under the authority 
of the surveyor- general, and file an application therefor in writing, and 
deposit in a proper United States depository, to the credit of the United 
States, a sum sufficient to pay for such survey, together with all expend- 
itures incident thereto, without cost or claim for indemnity on the United 
States, it may be lawful for the surveyor-general, under such instructions 
as may be given him by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
and in accordance with law, to survey such township and make return 
thereof to the general and proper local land office, provided the town- 
ship so proposed to be surveyed is within the range of the regular 
progress of the public surveys embraced by existing standard lines or 
bases for the township and subdivisional surveys. 

Sec. 2402. The deposit of money in a proper United States depository, 
under the provisions of the preceding section, shall be deemed an appro- 
priation of the sums so deposited for the objects contemplated by that 
section, and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to cause the 
sums so deposited to be placed to the credit of the proper appropriations 
for the surveying service; but any excesses in such sums over and above 
the actual costs of the surveys, comprising all expenses incident thereto, 
for which they were severally deposited, shall be repaid to the depos- 
itors respectively. 

Sec. 2403. 3 (As amended by act of March 3, 1879.) Where settlers 
make deposits in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-four 
hundred and one, the amount so deposited shall go in part payment for 
their lands situated in the townships, the surveying of which is paid 
for out of such deposits ; or the certificates issued for such deposits may 
be assigned by indorsement and be received in payment for any public 
lands of the United States entered by settlers under the pre-emption 
and homestead laws of the United States, and not otherwise. [Pro- 
vided, That no certificate issued for a deposit of money for the survey 

1 Amended by act of June 16, 1880 (21 Stat., 287; Appendix No. 21). 

2 Sections 2101 and 2403, amended by act of August 20, 1894; 28 Stat., 423. See 
pages 97 and 233 of tbis circular. 

-Sections 2401 and 2403, amended by act of August 20, 1894 ; 28 Stat., 423. See pages 
97 and 233, of tbis circular. 



160 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

of lands shall be received in payment for lands except at the land office 
in which the lands surveyed for which the deposit was made are sub- 
ject to entry, and not elsewhere ; but this section shall not be held to 
impair, prejudice, or affect in any manner certificates issued or deposits 
and contracts made under the provisions of said act prior to the pas- 
sage of this act.] 2 



MILITARY BOUNTY LAND WARRANTS. 



Military bounty-land 
rants and locations 
able. 

22 Mar., 1852, c. 19, s. 1 
10, p. 3; 3 June, 1858, c. 84. 



Sec. 2414. All warrants for military bounty lands 

assi g Q - which have been or may hereafter be issued uuder any 

law of the United States, and all valid locations of the 

v. ii, P . 309. same which have been or may hereafter be made, are 

declared to be assignable by deed or instrument of writing, made and 
executed according to such form and pursuant to such regulations as 
may be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, so 
as to vest the assignee with all the rights of the original owner of the 
warrant or location. 

warrants located at $1.25; Sec. 2415. The warrants which have been or may 
ez 2fM^ar^i85 C 2Tti9, s .i,v. hereafter be issued in pursuance of law may be located 
10 ' p - 3 - ' according to the legal subdivisions of the public lands 

in one body upon any lands of the United States subject to private 
entry at the time of such location at the minimum price. When such 
warrant is located on lands which are subject to entry at a greater 
minimum than one dollar and twenty-live cents per acre, the locator 
shall pay to the United States in cash the difference between the value 
of such warrants at one dollar and twenty- five cents per acre and the 
tract of land located on. But where such tract is rated at one dollar 
and twenty -five cents per acre, and does not exceed the area specified 
in the warrant, it must be taken in full satisfaction thereof. 

Sec. 2437. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secre- 
tary of the Interior, to cause to be located, free of expense, any warrant 
which the holder may transmit to the General Land Office for that pur- 
pose, in such State or land district as the holder or warrantee may 
designate, and upon good farming land, so far as the same can be ascer- 
tained from the maps, plats, and field notes of the surveyor, or from 
any other information in the possession of the local office, and, upon 
the location being made, the Secretary shall cause a patent to be trans- 
mitted to such warrantee or holder. 



BOARD OF EQUITABLE ADJUDICATION. 

cases of -suspended en- Sec. 2450. Tbe Commissioner of the General Land 



"suspend* P ic r e?m% t "n Office is authorized to decide upon principles of equity 

d claims." 
Aug., 1846, c. 78, s. l,v 



and justice, as recognized in courts of equity, and in ac- 



s i 51 V^^ M P ! r 258. 853 i6 c june' cordance with regulations to be settled by the Secretary 
1856,0.47,%. ii, p. 22. ' f tne [ Treasury] [Interior (see act February 27 ', 1877)], 
the Attorney -General, and the Commissioner, conjointly, consistently 
with such principles, all cases of suspended entries of public lands and 
of suspended preemption land claims, and to adjudge in what cases 
patents shall issue upon the same. 

1 The portion within brackets is an amendment added by act of August 7, 1882 (22 
Stat., 327; Appendix No. 24, p. 181). 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 161 



Adjudications nndei a 

>w approved. 

3 Aug., 1846, c. 78, s. 1 



Sec. 2451. Every such adjudication shall be approved 
by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney-Gen- 
eral, acting as a board ; and shall operate only to divest 
the United States of the title of the lands embraced thereby, without 
prejudice to the rights of conflicting claimants. 

Sec. 2452. The Commissioner is directed to report to Report of adjudications un . 
Congress at the first session after any such adjudications de $%4£%Tit*^.9- 
have been made a list of the same under the classes pre- p - 5K 
scribed by law, with a statement of the principles upon which each class 
was determined. 

Sec. 2453. The Commissioner shall arrange his deci- Declsions to be arranged 
sionsinto two classes; the first class to embrace all such , 1uS£? M 6,e.re,i.3,v.9, 
cases of equity as may be finally confirmed by the board, p - "• 
and the second class to embrace all such cases as the board reject and 
decide to be invalid. 

Sec. 2454. For all lands covered by claims which are Patent3 10 issue for landa 
placed in the first class, patents shall issue to the claim- 



in the first class, and lands in 
second class to revert to the 



ants; and all lands embraced by claims placed in the U 3At g s ) t i t 84 s 6 ) c.78 ) s.4 ) v.9, 
second class shall ipso facto revert to, and become part pM - 
of, the public domain. 

Sec. 2455. 1 It may be lawful for the Commissioner of Commissioner t0 ordcr Into 
the General Land Office to order into market, after due T^!$S&^5^ 
notice, without the formality and expense of a proclama- p - 51 - 
tion of the President, all lands of the second class, though heretofore 
unproclaimed and unoffered, and such other isolated or disconnected 
tracts or parcels of unoffered lands which, in his judgment, it would be 
proper to expose to sale in like manner. But public notice of at least 
thirty days shall be given by the land officers of the district in which 
such lands may be situated, pursuant to the directions of the Commis- 
sioner. 

Sec. 2456. Where patents have been already issued 

, . i • i n t l j_i _cq t Patents surrendered and 

on entries which are confirmed by the officers who are new ones issued in certain 
con sti tuted th e board of adj udication , the Commissioner ca 3Mar., 1353, c . 152, s . % v. 
of the General Land Office, upon the canceling of the 10 ' p - 2 ° 8 - 
outstanding patent, is authorized to issue a new patent, on such con- 
firmation, to the person who made the entry, his heirs or assigns. 

Sec. 2457. The preceding provisions, from section Estent o£ foregoiDg pro . 
twenty-four hundred and fifty to section twenty-four vi f 6 on j s une> !856 , c . 47 , v . 11, 
hundred and fifty-six, inclusive, shall be applicable to p - 22 - 
all cases of suspended entries and locations, which have arisen in the 
General Land Office since the twenty-sixth day of June, eighteen hun- 
dred and fifty-six, as well as to all cases of a similar kind which may 
hereafter occur, embracing as well locations under bounty-land warrants 
as ordinary entries or sales, including homestead entries and preemp- 
tion locations or cases; where the law has been substantially complied 
with, and the error or informality arose from ignorance, accident, or 
mistake which is satisfactorily explained; and where the rights of no 
other claimant or preempter are prejudiced, or where there is no adverse 
claim. 

[The rules and regulations of the board of equitable adjudication 
will be found printed hereinafter. See Appendix No. 85, p. 265. | 

1 Amended by act of February 26, 1895 (28 Stat., 687), Appendix No. 63, p. 238. 
3073 11 



162 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

CERTIFIED COPIES. 

Sec. 2469. The Commissioner of the General Land Office shall cause 
to be prepared, and shall certify, under the seal of the office, such copies 
of records, books, and papers on file in his office as may be applied for, 
to be used in evidence in courts of justice. (See sees. 461 and 891.) 

Sec. 2470. Literal exemplifications of any records which have been or 
maybe granted in virtue of the preceding section shall be deemed of the 
same validity in all proceedings, whether at law or in equity, wherein 
such exemplifications are adduced in evidence, as if the names of the 
officers signing and countersigning the same had been fully inserted in 
such record. (Sees. 461, 891.) 



APPROPRIATE REGULATIONS. 

Power of co™,.^ of Sec - 2478 - Tne Commissioner of the General Land 
Land office to enforce this Office, under the direction of the Secretary of the Inte- 
rior, is authorized to enforce and carry into execution, 
by appropriate regulations, every part of the provisions of this title 
not otherwise specially provided for. 



[No. 2.] 

PENALTY OF PERJURY. 

AN ACT to provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That in all cases where any oath, 
affirmation, or affidavit shall be made or taken before any register or 
receiver, or either or both of them, of any local land office in the United 
States or any Territory thereof, or where any oath, affirmation or affi- 
davit shall be made or taken before any person authorized by the laws 
of any State or Territory of the United States to administer oaths or 
affirmations, or take affidavits, and such oaths, affirmations, or affidavits 
are made, used, or filed in any of said local land offices, or in the Gen- 
eral Land Office, as well in cases arising under any or either of the 
orders, regulations, or instructions concerning any of the public lands 
of the United States, issued by the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office or other proper officer of the Government of the United States, 
as under the laws of the United States, in anywise relating to or affect- 
ing any right, claim, or title, or any contest therefor, to any of the pub- 
lic lands of the United States, and if any person or persons shall, taking 
such oath, affirmation, or affidavit, knowingly, willfully, or corruptly 
swear or affirm falsely, the same shall be deemed and taken to be per- 
jury, and the person or persons guilty thereof shall, upon conviction, 
be liable to the punishment prescribed for that offense by the laws of 
the United States. 

Approved, March 3, 1857. (11 Stat., 250.) 

Eevised Statutes, Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an 
oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any case in which 
a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 163 

he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written tes- 
timony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is true, 
willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material 
matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and 
shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and 
by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, 
moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving testimony in any court 
of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is 
reversed. (See sec. 1750.) 



[No. 3.] 

SALT SPRINGS. 

AN ACT providing for the sale of saline lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever it shall be made 
appear to the register and the receiver of auy land-office of the United 
States that any lands within their district are saline in character, it 
shall be the duty of said register and said receiver, under the regula- 
tion of the General Land Office, to take testimony in reference to such 
lauds to ascertain their true character, and to report the same to the 
General Land Office ; and if, upon such testimony, the Commissioner of 
the General Laud Office shall find that such lands are saline and 
incapable of being purchased under any of the laws of the United 
States relative to the public domain, then, and in such case, such lands 
shall be offered for sale by public auction at the local land-office of the 
district in which the same shall be situated, under such regulations as 
shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
and sold to the highest bidder for cash at a price not less than one dol- 
lar and twenty- five cents per acre; and in case said lands fail to sell 
when so offered, then the same shall be subject to private sale at such 
land-office, for cash, at a price not less than one dollar and twenty-five 
cents per acre, in the same manner as other lands of the United States 
are sold: Provided, That the foregoing enactments shall not apply to 
any State or Territory which has not had a grant of salines by act of 
Congress, nor to any State which may have had such a grant, until 
either the grant has been fully satisfied, or the right of selection there- 
under has expired by efflux of time. But nothiug in this act shall 
authorize the sale or conveyance of any title other than such as the 
United States has, and the patents issued shall be in the form of a 
release and quit-claim of all title of the United States in such lands. 

Sec. 2. That all executive proclamations relating to the sales of public 
lands shall be published in only one newspaper, the same to be printed 
and published in the State or Territory where the lands are situated, 
and to be designated by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Approved, January 12, 1877. (19 Stat, 221.) 



164 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[No. 4.] 

DESERT LANDS. 

AN ACT to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Mouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for any 
citizen of the United States, or any person of requisite age " who may be 
entitled to become a citizen, and who has filed his declaration to become 
such," and upon payment of twenty-five cents per acre, to file a declara- 
tion, under oath, with the register and the receiver of the land district 
in which any desert land is situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract 
of desert land, not exceeding one section ; by conducting water upon 
the same within the period of three years thereafter: Provided, however, 
That the right to the use of water by the person so conducting the same 
on or to any tract of desert land of six hundred and forty acres shall 
depend upon bona fide prior appropriation; and such right shall not 
exceed the amount of water actually appropriated and necessarily used 
for the purpose of irrigation and reclamation ; and all surplus water over 
and above such actual appropriation and use, together with the water 
of all lakes, rivers, and other sources of water supply upon the public 
lands, and not navigable, shall remain and be held free for the appro- 
priation and use of the public for irrigation, mining, and manufacturing 
purposes subject to existing rights. Said declaration shall describe 
particularly said section of land if surveyed, and if unsurveyed shall 
describe the same as nearly as possible without a survey. At any time 
within the period of three years after filing said declaration, upon 
making satisfactory proof to the register and receiver of the reclama- 
tion of said tract of land in the manner aforesaid, and upon the pay- 
ment to the receiver of the additional sum of one dollar per acre for a 
tract of land not exceeding six hundred and forty acres to any one 
person, a patent for the same shall be issued to him : Provided, That 
no person shall be permitted to enter more than one tract of land, and 
not to exceed six hundred and forty acres, which shall be in compact 
form. 

Sec. 2. That all lands exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands 
which will not, without irrigation, produce some agricultural crop, shall 
be deemed desert lands within the meaning of this act, which fact 
shall be ascertained by proof of two or more credible witnesses under 
oath, whose affidavits shall be filed in the land-office in which said tract 
of land may be situated. 

Sec. 3. That this act shall only apply to and take effect in the States 
of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and the Territories of Washington, 
Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota, 
and the determination of what may be considered desert land shall 
be subject to the decision and regulation of the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office. 

Approved, March 3, 1877. (19 Stat., 377.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 165 

[No. 5.] 

HOMESTEAD PROOF. 

AN ACT to amend section twenty-two hundred and ninety-one of the Revised Stat- 
utes of the United States, in relation to proof required in homestead entries. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the proof of residence, 
occupation, or cultivation, the affidavit of non-alienation, and the oath 
of allegiance, required to be made by section twenty-two hundred and 
ninety one of the Revised Statutes of tbe United States, may be made 
before the judge, or in his absence, before the clerk of any court of rec- 
ord of the county and State, or district and Territory in which the lands 
are situated; and if said lands are situated in any unorganized county 
such proof may be made in a similar manner in any adjacent county in 
said State or Territory; and the proof, affidavit, and oath, when so made 
and duly subscribed, shall have the same force and effect as if made 
before the register or receiver of the proper land district; and the same 
shall be transmitted by such judge, or tbe clerk of his court, to the 
register and the receiver, with the fee and charges allowed by law to 
him; and the register and receiver shall be entitled to the same fees 
for examining and approving said testimony as are now allowed by law 
for taking the same. 

Sec. 2. That if any witness making such proof, or the said applicant 
making such affidavit or oath, swears falsely as to any material matter 
contained in said proof, affidavits, or oaths, the said false swearing 
being willful and corrupt, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and 
shall be liable to the same pains and penalties as if he had sworn falsely 
before the register. 

Approved, March 3, 1877. (19 Stat., 403.) 



[No. 6.] 

TIMBER AND STONE ENTRIES. 

AN ACT for the sale of timber lands in the States of California, Oregon, Nevada, 
and in Washington Territory. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That surveyed public lands of 
the United States within the States of California, Oregon, and Nevada, 
and in Washington Territory, not included within military, Indian, or 
other reservations of the United States, valuable chiefly for timber, but 
unfit for cultivation, and which have not been offered at public sale, 
according to law, may be sold to citizens of the United States, or per- 
sons who have declared their intention to become such, in quantities 
not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to any one person or asso- 
ciation of persons, at the minimum price of two dollars and fifty cents 
per acre; and lands valuable chiefly for stone may be sold on the same 
terms as timber lands : Provided, That nothing herein contained shall 
defeat or impair any bona fide claim under any law of the United States, 
or authorize the sale of any mining claim, or the improvements of any 
bona fide settler, or lands containing gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or 



166 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

coal, or lands selected by the said States under any law of the United 
States donating lands for internal improvements, education, or other 
purposes : And provided further, That none of the rights conferred by 
the act approved July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, 
entitled " An act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners 
over the public lands, and for other purposes," shall be abrogated by 
this act; and all patents granted shall be subject to any vested and 
accrued water rights, or rights to ditches and reservoirs used in con- 
nection with such water rights, as may have been acquired under and 
by the provisions of said act; and such rights shall be expressly 
reserved in any patent issued under this act. 

Sec. 2. That any person desiring to avail himself of the provisions of 
this act shall file with the register of the proper district a written state- 
ment in duplicate, one of which is to be transmitted to the General 
Land Office, designating by legal subdivisions the particular tract of 
land he desires to purchase, setting forth that the same is unfit for cul- 
tivation, and valuable chiefly for its timber or stone; that it is unin- 
habitated; contains no mining or other improvements, except for ditch 
or canal purposes, where any such do exist, save such as were made by 
or belonged to the applicant, nor, as deponent verily believes, any valu- 
able deposit of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; that deponent has 
made no other application under this act; that he does not apply to pur- 
chase the same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his 
own exclusive use and benefit , and that he has not, directly or indirectly, 
made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person 
or persons whatsoever, by which the title which he might acquire from 
the Government of the United States should inure, in whole or in part, 
to the benefit of any person except himself; which statement must be 
verified by the oath of the applicant before the register or the receiver 
of the land office within the district where the land is situated; and if 
any person taking such oath shall swear falsely in the premises, he shall 
be subject to all the pains and penalties of perjury, and shall forfeit the 
money which he may have paid for said lands, and all right and title 
to the same; and any grant or conveyance which he may have made, 
except in the hands of bona fide purchasers, shall be null and void. 

Sec. 3. That upon the filing of said statement, as provided in the 
second section of this act, the register of the land office shall post a 
notice of such application, embracing a description of the land by legal 
subdivisions, in his office, for a period of sixty days, and shall furnish 
the applicant a copy of the same for publication, at the expense of such 
applicant, in a newspaper published nearest the location of the prem- 
ises, for a like period of time; and after the expiration of said sixty 
days, if no adverse claim shall have been filed, the person desiring to 
purchase shall furnish to the register of the land office satisfactory 
evidence, first, that said notice of the application prepared by the reg- 
ister as aforesaid was duly published in a newspaper as herein required ; 
secondly, that the land is of the character contemplated in this act, 
unoccupied and without improvements, other than those excepted, 
either mining or agricultural, and that it apparently contains no valu- 
able deposits of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; and upon pay- 
ment to the proper officer of the purchase money of said land, together 
with the fees of the register and the receiver, as provided for in case of 
mining claims in the twelfth section of the act approved May tenth, 
eighteen hundred and seventy-two, the applicant may be permitted to 
enter said tract, and, on the transmission to the General Land Office 
of the papers and testimony in the case, a patent shall issue thereon: 
Provided, That any person having a valid claim to any portion of the 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 167 

land may object, in writing, to the issuance of a patent to lands so held 
by him, stating the nature of his claim thereto ; and evidence shall be 
taken, and the merits of said objection shall be determined by the 
officers of the land office, subject to appeal, as in other land cases. 
Effect shall be given to the foregoing provisions of this act by regula- 
tions to be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office. 
# # # # # # * 

Sec. 6. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provi- 
sions of this act are hereby repealed. 
Approved, June 3, 1878. (20 Stat., 89.) 



[No. 7.] 

CHANGE OF PRE-EMPTION FILING TO HOMESTEAD ENTRY. 
AN ACT for the relief of settlers on the public lands under the pre-emption laws. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who has made 
a settlement on the public lands under the pre-emption laws, and has 
subsequent to such settlement changed his filing in pursuance of law 
to that for a homestead entry upon the same tract of land, shall be 
entitled, subject to all the provisions of the law relating to homesteads, 
to have the time required to perfect his title under the homestead laws 
computed from the date of his original settlement heretofore made, or 
hereafter to be made, under the pre-emption laws. 

Approved, June 14, 1878. (20 Stat., 113.) 



[No. 8.] 

TIMBER CULTURE. 

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to encourage the growth of timber on the 

western prairies." 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America. in Congress assembled, That the act entitled "An act 
to amend the act entitled 'An act to encourage the growth of timber on 
western prairies,'" approved March thirteenth, eighteen hundred and 
seventy-four, be, and the same is hereby amended so as to read as 
follows : That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived 
at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or 
who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as 
required by the naturalization laws of the United States, who shall plant, 
protect, and keep in a healthy, growing condition for eight years ten 
acres of timber, on any quarter section of any of the public lands of the 
United States, or five acres on any legal subdivision of eighty acres, or 
two and one-half acres on any legal subdivision of forty acres or less, 
shall be entitled to a patent for the whole of said quarter section, or of 
such legal subdivision of eighty or forty acres, or fractional subdivision 
of less than forty acres, as the case may be, at the expiration of said 
eight years, on making proof of such fact by not less than two credible 



168 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

witnesses, and a full compliance of tbe further conditions as provided 
in section two : Provided further. That not more than one quarter of 
any section shall be thus granted, and that no person shall make more 
than one entry under the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 2. That the person applying for the benefits of this act shall, 
upon application to the register of the land district in which he or she 
is about to make such entry, make affidavit, before the register or the 
receiver, or the clerk of some court of record, or officer authorized to 
administer oaths in the district where the land is situated ; which affi- 
davit shall be as follows, to wit : I, , having filed my appli- 
cation, number , for an entry under the provisions of an act 

entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 4 An act to encourage the 

growth of timber on the western prairies, 7 " approved , eighteen 

hundred and seventy , do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am the 

head of a family (or over twenty-one years of age), and a citizen of the 
United States (or have declared my intention to become such); that 
the section of land specified in my said application is composed exclu- 
sively of prairie lands, or other lands devoid of timber; that this filing 
and entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and for my own exclu- 
sive use and benefit; that I have made thesaid application in good 
faith, and not for the purpose of speculation, or directly or indi- 
rectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomso- 
ever; that I intend to hold and cultivate the land, and to fully com- 
ply with the provision of this said act, and that I have not heretofore 
made an entry under this act, or the acts of which this is amendatory. 
And upon filing said affidavit with said register and said receiver, 
and on payment of ten dollars if the tract applied for is more than 
eighty acres, and five dollars if it is eighty acres or less, he or she 
shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of land specified; 
and the party making an entry of a quarter section under the provi- 
sions of this act shall be required to break or plow five acres covered 
thereby the first year, five acres the second year, and to cultivate to 
crop or otherwise the five acres broken or plowed the first year; the 
third year he or she shall cultivate to crop or otherwise the five acres 
broken the second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings the 
five acres first broken or plowed, and to cultivate and put in crop or 
otherwise the remaining five acres, and the fourth year to plant in tim- 
ber, seeds, or cuttings the remaining five acres. All entries of less 
quantity than one quarter section shall be plowed, planted, cultivated 
and planted to trees, tree seeds, or cuttings, in the same manner and in 
the same proportion as hereinbefore provided for a quarter section : Pro- 
vided, however, That in case such trees, seeds, or cuttings shall be 
destroyed by grasshoppers, or by extreme and unusual drouth, for any 
year or term of years, the time for planting such trees, seeds, or cuttings 
shall be extended one year for every such year that they are so 
destroyed: Provided further, That the person making such entry shall, 
before he or she shall be entitled to such extension of time, file with 
the register and receiver of the proper land office an affidavit, corrobo- 
rated by two witnesses, setting forth the destruction of such trees, and 
that, in consequence of such destruction, he or she is compelled to ask 
an extension of time, in accordance with the provisions of this act: And 
provided further, That no final certificate shall be given, or patent 
issued, for the land so entered, until the expiration of eight years from 
the date of such entry; and if, at the expiration of such time, or at any 
time within five years thereafter, the person making such entry, or, if 
he or she be dead, his or her heirs or legal representatives, shall prove 
by two credible witnesses that he or she or they have planted, and, for 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 169 

not less than eight years, have cultivated and protected such quantity 
and character of trees as aforesaid ; that not less than twenty-seven 
hundred trees were planted on each acre, and that at the time of mak- 
ing such proof there shall be then growing at least six hundred and 
seventy-five living and thrifty trees to each acre, they shall receive a 
patent for such tract of land. 

Sec. 3. That if at any time after the filing of said affidavit, and prior 
to the issuing of the patent for said land, the claimant shall fail to com- 
ply with any of the requirements of this act, then and in that event 
such lands shall be subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by 
some other person under the provisions of this act: Provided, That the 
party making claim to said land, either as a homestead settler or under 
this act, shall give, at the time of filing his application, such notice to 
the original claimant as shall be prescribed by the rules established by 
the Commissioner of the General Land Office ; and the rights of the 
parties shall be determined as in other contested cases. 

Sec. 4. That no land acquired under the provisions of this act shall, 
in any event, become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts con- 
tracted prior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor. 

Sec. 5. That the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby 
required to prepare and issue such rules and regulations, consistent with 
this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its provisions into 
effect; and that the registers and receivers of the several land offices 
shall each be entitled to receive two dollars at the time of entry, and 
the like sum when the claim is finally established and the final certificate 
issued. 

Sec. 6. That the fifth section of the act entitled "An act in addition 
to an act to punish crimes against the United States, and for other pur- 
poses," approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall 
extend to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits required or authorized 
by this act. 

Sec. 7. That parties who have already made entries under the acts 
approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and March 
thirteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, of which this is amend- 
atory, shall be permitted to complete the same upon full compliance 
with the provisions of this act; that is, they shall, at the time of mak- 
ing their final proof, have had under cultivation, as required by this 
act, an amount of timber sufficient to make the number of acres required 
by this act. 

Sec. 8. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby 
repealed. 

Approved, June 14, 1878. (20 Stat., 113.) 



[Ko. 9.] 

PRIVATE LAND CLAIM INDEMNITY SCRIP. 

AN ACT defining the manner in which certain land scrip may be assigned and located, 
or applied by actual settlers, and providing for the issue of patents in the name 
of the locator or his legal representatives. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever, in cases prose- 
cuted under the acts of Congress of June twenty-second, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty, March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and 
the first section of the act of June tenth, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
two, providing for the adjustment of private land claims in the States 



170 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

of Florida, Louisiana, and Missouri, the validity of the claim has been, 
or shall be hereafter, recognized by the Supreme Court of the United 
States, and the court has decreed that the plaintiff or plaintiffs is or 
are entitled to enter a certain number of acres upon the public lands of 
the United States subject to private entry at one dollar and twenty- 
five cents per acre, or to receive certificate of location for as much of 
the land the title to which has been established as has been disposed 
of by the United States, certificate of location shall be issued by the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office, attested by the seal of said 
office, to be located as provided for in the sixth section of the aforesaid 
act of Congress of June twenty-second, eighteen hundred and sixty, or 
applied according to the provisions of the second section of this act; 
and said certificate of location or scrip shall be subdivided according 
to the request of the confirmee or confirmees, and as nearly as practica- 
ble in conformity with the legal divisions and subdivisions of the public 
lands of the United States, and shall be, and are hereby declared to be, 
assignable by deed or instrument of writing, according to the form and 
pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office, so as to vest the assignee with all the rights of the original 
owners of the scrip, including the right to locate the scrip in his own 
name. 

Sec. 2. That such scrip shall be received from actual settlers only in 
payment of pre-emption claims or in commutation of homestead claims 
in the same manner and to the same extent as is now authorized by law 
in the case of military-bounty land warrants. 

Sec. 3. That the register of the proper land office, upon any such 
certificate being located, shall issue, in the name of the party making 
the location, a certificate of entry, upon which, if it shall appear to the 
satisfaction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office that such 
certificate has been fairly obtained, according to the true intent and 
meaning of this act, a patent shall issue, as in other cases, in the name 
of the locator or his legal representative. 

Sec. 4. That the provisions of this act respecting the assignment 
and patenting of scrip and its application to preemption and homestead 
claims shall apply to the indemnity certificates of location provided for 
by the act of the second of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, 
entitled "An act to provide for the location of certain confirmed private 
land claims in the State of Missouri, and for other purposes." 

Approved, January 28, 1879. (20 Stat., 274.) 



[No. 10.J 

SPECIAL SURVEY DEPOSITS. 

AN ACT to amend section twenty-four hundred and three of the Revised Statutes 
of the United States, in relation to deposits for surveys. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section twenty-four hun- 
dred and three of the Revised Statutes of the United Statse be, and 
is hereby, amended so as to read as follows : 

Sec. 2403. 1 Where settlers make deposits in accordance with the 
provisions of section twenty-four hundred and one, the amount so 

1 Further amended hy acts of August 7, 1882 (22 Stat.. 327; Appendix No. 24, p. 181), 
and August 20, 1894 (28 Stat., 423 ; Appendix No. 54, p. 233). 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 171 

deposited shall go in part payment for their laud situated in the town- 
ships, the surveying of which is paid for out of such deposits ; or the 
certificates issued for such deposits may be assigned by indorsement, 
and be received in payment for any public lands of the United States 
entered by settlers under the preemption and homestead laws of the 
United States, and not otherwise. 
Approved, March 3, 1879. (20 Stat., 352.) 



[No. 11.] 

SETTLERS WITHIN RAILROAD LIMITS. 

AN ACT to grant additional rights to homestead settlers on public lands within 

railroad limits. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That from and after the passage 
of this act, the even sections within the limits of any grant of public 
lands to any railroad company, or to any military road company, or to 
any State in aid of any railroad or military road shall be open to settlers 
under the homestead laws to the extent of one hundred and sixty acres 
to each settler, and any person who has, under existing laws, taken a 
homestead on any even section within the limits of any railroad or mili- 
tary road land grant, and who by existing laws shall have been restricted 
to eighty acres, may enter under the homestead laws an additional 
eighty acres adjoining the land embraced in his original entry if such 
additional land be subject to entry; or if such person so elect, he may 
surrender his entry to the United States for cancellation, and there- 
upon be entitled to enter lands under the homestead laws the same as 
if the surrendered entry had not been made. And any person so mak- 
ing additional entry of eighty acres, or new entry after the surrender 
and cancellation of his original entry, shall be permitted so to do with- 
out payment of fees and commission ; and the residence and cultivation 
of such person upon and of the land embraced in his original entry 
shall be considered residence and cultivation for the same length of 
time upon and of the land embraced in his additional or new entry, 
and shall be deducted from the five years' residence and cultivation 
required by law: Provided, That in no case shall patent issue upon an 
additional or new homestead entry under this act until the person has 
actually, and in conformity with the homestead laws, occupied, resided 
upon, and cultivated the land embraced therein at least one year. 

Approved, March 3, 1879. (20 Stat, 472.) 



[No. 12.] 

FINAL PROOF NOTICE. 

AN ACT to provide additional regulations for homestead and preemption entries of 

public lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That before final proof shall be 
submitted by any person claiming to enter agricultural lands under 



172 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the laws providing for preemption or homestead entries, such person 
shall file with the register of the proper land office a notice of his or 
her intention to make such proof, stating therein the description of 
lands to be entered, and the names of the witnesses by whom the 
necessary facts will be established. Upon the filing of such notice the 
register shall publish a notice, that such application has been made, 
once a week for the period of thirty days, in a newspaper to be by him 
designated as published nearest to such land, and he shall also post 
such notice in some conspicuous place in his office for the same period. 
Such notice shall contain the names of the witnesses as stated in the 
application. At the expiration of said period of thirty days the claim- 
ant shall be entitled to make proof in the manner heretofore provided 
by law. The Secretary of the Interior shall make all necessary rules 
for giving effect to the foregoing provisions. 
Approved, March 3, 1879. (20 Stat., 472.) 



[No. 13.] 

SETTLERS WITHIN RAILROAD LIMITS. 

AN ACT to grant additional rights to homestead settlers on public lands within rail- 
road limits in the States of Missouri and Arkansas. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the pas- 
sage of this act the odd sections within the limits of any grant of pub- 
lic lands to any railroad company in the States of Missouri and Arkan- 
sas, or to such States respectively, in aid of any railroad, where the 
even sections have been granted to and received by any railroad com- 
pany or by such States respectively in aid of any railroad, shall be 
open to settlers under the homestead laws to the extent of one hundred 
and sixty acres to each settler; and any person who has under existing 
laws taken a homestead on any section within the limits of any rail- 
road grant in said States, and who by existing laws shall have been 
restricted to eighty acres, may enter under the homestead laws an addi- 
tional eighty acres adjoining the land embraced in his original entry, 
if such additional land be subject to entry ; or if such person so elect, 
he may surrender his entry to the United States for cancellation, and 
thereupon be entitled to enter lands under the homestead laws the same 
as if the surrendered entry had not been made. And any person so 
making additional entry of eighty acres, or new entry after the cancel- 
lation of his original entry, shall be permitted to do so without pay- 
ment of fees or commissions; and the residence of such person upon 
and cultivation of the land embraced in his original entry shall be con- 
sidered residence and cultivation for the same length of time upon and 
of the land embraced in his additional or new entry, and shall be de- 
ducted from the five years' residence and cultivation required by law : 
Provided, That in no case shall patent issue upon an additional or new 
homestead entry under this act until the person has actually, and in 
conformity with the homestead laws, occupied, resided upon, and cul- 
tivated the land embraced therein at least one year. 

Approved, July 1, 1879. (21 Stat., 46.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 173 

[No. 14.] 
INJURY OR DESTRUCTION OF CROPS BY GRASSHOPPERS. 

AN ACT for the relief of settlors on the public lands in districts subject to grass- 
hopper incursions. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for home- 
stead and preemption settlers on the public lands, and in all cases 
where preemptions are authorized by law, where crops have been or 
may be destroyed or seriously injured by grasshoppers, to leave and be 
absent from said lands under such rules and regulations, as to proof of 
the same, as the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall pre- 
scribe; bnt in no case shall such absence extend beyond one year con- 
tinuously; and during such absence no adverse rights shall attach to 
said lands, such settlers being allowed to resume and perfect their set- 
tlement as though no such absence had occurred. 

Sec. 2. That the time for making final proof and payment by pre- 
emptors whose crops shall have been destroyed or injured as aforesaid 
may, in the discretion of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
be extended for one year after the expiration of the term of absence 
provided for in the first section of this act; and all the rights and privi- 
leges extended by this act to homestead and preemption settlers shall 
apply to and include the settlers under an act entitled "An act to 
encourage the growth of timber on western prairies," approved March 
third, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and the acts amendatory 
thereof. 

Approved, July 1, 1879. (21 Stat., 48.) 

INSTRUCTIONS. 

The first section of the act of July 1, 1879, " for the relief of settlers 
on the public lands in districts subject to grasshopper incursions," pro- 
vides that homestead and preemption settlers on public lands where 
crops have been destroyed or seriously injured by grasshoppers may 
leave and be absent from said lands for a period not to exceed one year 
continuously, under such rules and regulations as the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office shall prescribe, being allowed afterward to 
resume and perfect their settlement as though no such absence had 
occurred. The second section provides that the time tor making final 
proof and payment by preemptors whose crops had, been destroyed or 
injured as aforesaid may, at the discretion of the Commissioner, be 
extended for one year. (See supra.) 

A settler desiring to take advantage of the provisions of this act 
should file with the register and receiver a written notice of intended 
absence, bearing his own signature, and embracing a statement that he 
had sustained loss or failure of his crops. This should be noted on the 
tract books for the protection of the claimant and the information of 
parties who might otherwise make settlement and attempt to obtain 
title. 

Preemption settlers desiring the extension of time provided for in the 
second section of the act should apply therefor through the same offi- 
cers, the application to be supported by the same character of proof, 
which should be made before the register or receiver of the district 
land office or before any officer using a seal and authorized to admin- 
ister oaths. 



174 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Upon making final proof the settler having been absent under the 
first section should file his affidavit, with the affidavits of two or more 
witnesses, corroborative thereof, stating the particulars of the alleged 
destruction or serious injury of crops by grasshoppers. 

The particulars given should be such as to admit of a decision whether 
the absence was justified by law or not, and should specifically show at 
what time the party left the land and when he resumed his settlement. 

The affidavits required in cases arising under this section of the act 
must be made at the same time and place and before the same officer 
taking the other proofs. 



[No. 15.] 

RELINQUISHMENTS — CONTESTANT'S PREFERENCE — HOMESTEAD SET- 
TLEMENTS. 

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on public lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Rouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That when a preemption, 
homestead, or timber-culture claimant shall file a written relinquish- 
ment of his claim in the local land office, the land covered by such 
claim shall be held as open to settlement and entry without further 
action on the part of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. 

Sec. 2. In all cases where any person has contested, paid the land- 
office fees, and procured the cancellation of any preemption, homestead, 
or timber- culture entry, he shall be notified by the register of the land 
office of the district in which such land is situated of such cancellation, 
and shall be allowed thirty days from date of such notice to enter said 
lands: Provided, That said register shall be entitled to a fee of one 
dollar for the giving of such notice, to be paid by the contestant, and 
not to be reported. 

Sec. 3. That any settler who has settled, or who shall hereafter settle, 
on any of the public lands of the United States, whether surveyed or 
unsurveyed, with the intention of claiming the same under the home- 
stead laws, shall be allowed the same time to file his homestead appli- 
cation and perfect his original entry in the United States Land Office 
as is now allowed to settlers under the preemption laws to put their 
claims on record, and his right shall relate back to the date of settle- 
ment the same as if he settled under the preemption laws. 

Approved, May 14, 1880. (21 Stat., 140.) 



[No. 16.] 

OSAGE TRUST AND DIMINISHED-RESERVE LANDS. 

AN ACT for the relief of settlers upon the Osage trust and diminished -reserve land 
in Kansas, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That all actual settlers under 
existing laws upon the Osage Indian trust and diminished-reserve lands 
in Kansas (any failure to comply with such existing laws notwithstand- 
ing) shall be allowed sixty days after a day to be fixed by public notice 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 175 

by advertisement in two newspapers in each of the proper land districts, 
which day shall not be later than ninety days after the passage of this 
act, within which to make proof of their claims, and to pay one-fourth 
the purchase price thereof, and the said parties shall pay the balance of 
said purchase price in three equal annual installments thereafter: Pro- 
vided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent an 
earlier payment of the whole or any installment of said purchase money 
as aforesaid. 

And if default be made by any settler in the payment of any portion 
or installment at the time it becomes due under the foregoing provi- 
sions, his entire claim, and any money he may have paid thereon, shall 
be forfeited, and the land shall, after proper notice, be offered for sale 
according to the terms hereinafter prescribed, unless before the day 
fixed for such offering the whole amount of purchase money shall be 
paid by said claimant, so as to entitle him to receive his patent for the 
tract embracing his claim. 

Sec. 2. That all the said Indian lands remaining unsold and unap- 
propriated, and not embraced in the claims provided for in section one 
of this act, shall be subject to disposal to actual settlers only, having 
the qualifications of preemptors on the public lands. Such settlers 
shall make due application to the register, with proof of settlement and 
qualifications as aforesaid; and, upon payment of not less than one- 
fourth the purchase price, shall be permitted to enter not exceeding one 
quarter section each, the balance to be paid in three equal installments, 
with like penalties, liabilities, and restrictions as to default and forfei- 
ture as provided in section one of this act. 

Sec. 3. All lands upon which such default has continued for ninety 
days shall be placed upon a list, and the Secretary of the Interior shall 
cause the same to be duly proclaimed for sale in the manner prescribed 
for the offering of the public lands, but not exceeding one quarter section 
shall be sold to any one purchaser, at a price not less than the price 
fixed by law ; but such lands, upon which such default shall be made, 
shall be offered for sale by advertisement of not less than thirty days 
in two newspapers in the proper land districts, respectively, and unless 
the purchase price be fully paid before the day named in the notice, shall 
be sold for cash to the highest bidder at not less than the price fixed by 
law. And all such lands, subject to unpaid overdue installments, shall 
be so offered once every year. And if any of said lands shall remain 
unsold after the offering as aforesaid, they shall be subject to private 
entry, for cash, in tracts not exceeding one quarter section by one 
purchaser. 

Sec. 4. After the payment of the first installment as hereinafter pro- 
vided for, such lands shall be subject to taxation according to the laws 
of the State of Kansas, as other lands are or may be in said State: 
Provided, That no sale of any such lands for taxes shall operate to 
deprive the United States of said lands, or any part of the purchase- 
price thereof, but if default be made in any installment of the pur- 
chase-price as aforesaid, such tax-sale purchaser, or his or her legal 
representatives, may, upon the day fixed for the public sale, and after 
such default has become final, under the foregoing provisions, pay so 
much of said purchase-price as may remain unpaid, and shall thereupon 
be entitled to receive a patent for the same as though he had made due 
settlement thereon : And provided further, That nothing in this act shall 
be so construed as to deprive or impair the right of the settler, of the 
right of redemption under the revenue laws of the State of Kansas. 



17G TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Sec. 5. That the register and the receiver shall be allowed the same 
fees and commissions as are allowed by law for the disposal of the 
public lands, and the net proceeds of the sales and disposals, after 
deducting the expenses of such disposals, shall be deposited to the 
credit of the proper Indian fund, as provided by existing laws; and 
the Secretary of the Interior shall make all rules and regulations nec- 
essary to carry into effect the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 6. That nothing in this act shall be construed to interfere in 
any manner with the operation of the town-site laws as applicable to 
these lands: Provided, That all claims for entry under said statutes 
shall be proved up and fully paid for, before the day fixed for the com- 
mencement of the public sales provided for in section three of this act. 

Sec. 7. In all cases arising under this act interest at the rate of five 
per centum per annum shall be computed and paid upon all that part 
of the purchase-money in respect to which time is given for the pay- 
ment of the same. 

Approved, May 28, 1880. (21 Stat., 143.) 



[No. 17.] 

LOSS OR FAILURE OF CROPS FROM UNAVOIDABLE CAUSE IN 1879 OR 
1880 IN KANSAS AND NEBRASKA. 

AN ACT for the relief of certain homestead and pre-emption settlers in Kansas and 

Nebraska. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for home- 
stead and preemption settlers on the public lands or preemption set- 
tlers upon Indian reservations in the States of Kansas and Nebraska 
west of the sixth principal meridian, where there has been a loss or 
failure of crops from unavoidable cause, in the year of eighteen hundred 
and seventy-nine or eighteen hundred and eighty, to leave and be absent 
from said lands until the first day of October, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-one, under such rules and regulations as to proof and notice as 
the Commissioner of the General Land Office may prescribe; and dur- 
ing said absence no adverse rights shall attach to said lands, such set- 
tlers being allowed to resume and perfect their settlement as though 
no such absence had occurred. 

Sec. 2. That the time for making final proof and payment by such 
preemptors is hereby extended for one year after the expiration of the 
term of absence provided for in the first section of this act; but in cases 
where the purchase money is by law payable in installments, the first 
unpaid installment shall be held not to be due until one year after the 
expiration of the leave of absence aforesaid. 

Approved, June 4, 1880. (21 Stat., 543.) 

INSTRUCTIONS. 

The act of June 4, 1880, " for the relief of certain homestead and pre- 
emption settlers in Kansas and Nebraska," provided that preemption 
settlers on the public lands, or preemption settlers upon Indian reserva- 
tions in the States of Kansas and Nebraska, west of the sixth principal 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 177 

meridian, where there was a loss or failure of crops from unavoidable 
cause in the year 1879 or 1880, might leave and be absent from said lands 
until the 1st day of October, 1881, under such rules aud regulations as 
to proof and notice as the Commissioner of the General Land Office 
might prescribe — such settlers being allowed to resume and perfect 
their settlements as though no such absence had occurred j and the 
time for making final proof and payment by such preemptors was 
extended for one year. In cases where the purchase money was by law 
payable in installments, the first unpaid installment was held not to be 
due until one year after the expiration of the leave of absence afore- 
said. (See supra.) 

The lands to which the provisions of this act applied were included 
within the land districts of Wichita, Salina, Concordia, Lamed, Kirwin, 
Wa Keeney, Oberlin, and Garden City (all the districts except Topeka 
and Independence), in Kansas; and Niobrara, Lincoln, Grand Island, 
North Platte, Bloomington, Beatrice, Neligh, Valentine, and McCook 
(all the districts), in Nebraska. Land lying east of the one hundredth 
meridian in any one of these districts did not come within the pro- 
visions of this act. 

This act, since it referred to a loss or failure of crops during only the 
years 1879 or 1880, is now obsolete; but any pending cases will be 
adjudicated under the original instructions, which were as follows: 

This right of absence is not available in any case in which there has not been " a 
loss or failure of crops from unavoidable cause in the year 1879 or 1880 ; " hence, 
when a settler not actually entitled to the benefits of this act absents himself from 
his claim, it will be liable to be regarded as an abandonment, and adverse claims 
may be recognized. 

The settler desiring to leave his claim under this act should file with the register 
and receiver of the proper district land office a written notice of his intention to do 
so, bearing his signature, and embracing a statement that he has sustained a loss or 
failure of his crops in 1879 or 1880, this being necessary for his own protection and 
as notice due parties who might otherwise initiate claims to the land. 

At date of final proof by any party who shall have availed himself of this act he 
must show by satisfactory proof the period of absence, and specific facts making 
appear the loss or failure of crops from unavoidable cause in 1879 or 1880, on account 
of which he was entitled to its benefits. The proof should consist of the party's 
own testimony, corroborated by that of two or more disinterested witnesses. 

After a party shall have filed the notice of intended absence under this act, no 
contest involving his right to the land can be instituted prior to the expiration of 
the legal term of absence to which he is entitled. If the party should be fraudu- 
lently absent, it will be a matter of investigation in the regular manner thereafter. 
All notices filed will be duly entered on the records of the district office and reported 
with the final proof made in the case. 



[No. 18.] 

SETTLERS WHO BECOME INSANE. 

AN ACT to provide for issuing patents for public lands claimed under the preemp- 
tion and homestead laws, in cases where the settlers have become insane. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases in which parties 
who regularly initiated claims to public lands as settlers thereon accord- 
ing to the provisions of the preemption or homestead laws, have become 
insane or shall hereafter become insane before the expiration of the time 
during which their residence, cultivation, or improvement of the land 
claimed by them is required by law to be continued in order to entitle 
3073 12 



178 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

them to make the proper proof and perfect their claims, it shall be law- 
ful for the required proof and payment to be made for their benefit by 
any person who may be legally authorized to act for them during their 
disability, and thereupon their claims shall be confirmed and patented, 
provided it shall be shown by proof satisfactory to the Commissioner 
of the General Land Office that the parties complied in good faith with 
the legal requirements up to the time of their becoming insane, and the 
requirements in homestead entries of an affidavit of allegiance by the 
applicant in certain cases as a prerequisite to the issuing of the patents 
shall be dispensed with so far as regards such insane parties. 
Approved, June 8, 1880. (21 Stat., 166.) 



[No. 19.] 

PREEMPTION AND HOMESTEAD-COMMUTATION AFFIDAVITS. 

AN ACT to amend sections twenty-two hundred and sixty-two and twenty-three 
hundred and one of the Revised Statutes of the United States, in relation to the 
settler's affidavit in preemption and commuted homestead entries. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the affidavit required to 
be made by sections twenty- two hundred and sixty- two and twenty- 
three hundred and one of the Eevised Statutes of the United States, 
may be made before the clerk of the county court or of any court of 
record, of the county and State or district and Territory in which the 
lands are situated; and if said lands are situated in any unorganized 
county, such affidavit maybe made in a similar manner in any adjacent 
county in said State or Territory, and the affidavit so made and duly 
subscribed shall have the same force and effect as if made before the 
register or receiver of the proper land district; and the same shall be 
transmitted by such clerk of the court to the register and receiver with 
the fee and charges allowed by law. 

Approved, June 9, 1880. (21 Stat., 169.) 



[So. 20.] 

TIMBER TRESPASS CONDONED— PURCHASE BY HOMESTEAD CLAIM- 
ANTS—REDUCTION OF PRICE— ACT OF JUNE 15, 1880. 

AN ACT relating to the public lands of the United States. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Bouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That when any lands of the 
United States shall have been entered and the Government price paid 
therefor in full no criminal suit or proceeding by or in the name of the 
United States shall thereafter be had or further maintained for any tres- 
passes upon or for or on account of any material taken from said lands, 
and no civil suit or proceeding shall be had or further maintained for or 
on account of any trespasses upon or material taken from the said lands 
of the United States in the ordinary clearing of land, in working a min- 
ing claim, or for agricultural or domestic purposes, or for maintaining 
improvements upon the land of any bona fide settler, or for or on 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 179 

account of any timber or material taken or used by any person without 
fault or knowledge of the trespass, or for or on account of any timber 
taken or used without fraud or collusion by any person who in good 
faith paid the officers or agents of the United States for the same, or for 
or on account of any alleged conspiracy in relation thereto: Provided, 
That the provisions of this section shall apply only to trespasses and 
acts done or committed and conspiracies entered into prior to March 
first, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine: And provided further, Tfiat 
defendants in such suits or proceedings shall exhibit to the proper 
courts or officer the evidence of such entry and payment, and shall pay 
all costs accrued up to the time of such entry. 

Sec. 2. That persons who have heretofore under any of the home- 
stead laws entered lands properly subject to such entry, or persons to 
whom the right of those having so entered for homesteads may have 
been attempted to be transferred by bona fide instrument in writing, 
may entitle themselves to said lands by paying the Government price 
therefor, and in no case less than one dollar and twenty -five cents per 
acre, and the amount heretofore paid the Government upon said lands 
shall be taken as part payment of said price: Provided, This shall in 
nowise interfere with the rights or claims of others who may have sub- 
sequently entered such lands under the homestead laws. 

Sec. 3. That the price of lands now subject to entry which were 
raised to two dollars and fifty cents per acre, and put in market prior 
to January, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, by reason of the grant of 
alternate sections for railroad purposes, is hereby reduced to one dollar 
and twenty- five cents per acre. 

Sec. 4. This act shall not apply to any of the mineral lands of the 
United States; and no person who shall be prosecuted for or proceeded 
against on account of any trespass committed or material taken from 
any of the public lands after March first, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
nine, shall be entitled to the benefit thereof. 

Approved, June 15, 1880. (21 Stat., 237.) 



[No. 21.] 

REPAYMENTS. 



AN ACT for the relief of certain settlers on the public lands, and to provide for the 
repayment of certain fees, purchase money, and commissions paid on void entries 
of public lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases where it shall, 
upon due proof being made, appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary 
of the Interior that innocent parties have paid the fees and commissions 
and excess payments required upon the location of claims under the 
act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to enable honor- 
ably discharged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan children, 
to acquire homesteads on the public lands of the United States,' and 
amendments thereto," approved March third, eighteen hundred and 
seventy-three, and now incorporated in section twenty-three hundred 
and six of the Eevised Statutes of the United States, which said claims 
were, after such location, found to be fraudulent and void, and the 
entries or locations made thereon canceled, the Secretary of the Interior 



180 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

is authorized to repay to such innocent parties the fees and commissions 
and excess payments paid by them, upon the surrender of the receipts 
issued therefor by the receivers of public moneys, out of any money in 
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and shall be payable out of 
the appropriation to refund purchase money on lands erroneously sold 
by the United States. 

Sec. 2. In all cases where homestead or timber-culture or desert-land 
entries or other entries of public lands have heretofore or shall hereafter 
be canceled for conflict, or where, from any cause, the entry has been 
erroneously allowed and can not be confirmed, the Secretary of the 
Interior shall cause to be repaid to the person who made such entry, or 
to his heirs or assigns, the fees and commissions, amount of purchase 
money, and excess paid upon the same upon tht surrender of the dupli- 
cate receipt and the execution of a proper relinquishment of all claims 
to said land, whenever such entry shall have been duly canceled by the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office, and in all cases where parties 
have paid double-minimum price for land which has afterwards been 
found not to be within the limits of a railroad land grant, the excess ot 
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre shall in like manner be repaid 
to the purchaser thereof, or to the heirs or assigns. 

Sec. 3. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make the pay- 
ments herein provided for, out of any money in the Treasury not other- 
wise appropriated. 

Sec. 4. The Commissioner of the General Land Office shall make all 
necessary rules, and issue all necessary instructions, to carry the pro- 
visions of this act into effect; and for the repayment of the purchase 
money and fees herein provided for the Secretary of the Interior shall 
draw his warrant on the Treasury and the same shall be paid without 
regard to the date of the cancellation of the entries. 

Approved, June 16, 1880. (21 Stat., 287). 



[No. 22.] 

SETTLERS ON RESTORED RAILROAD LANDS. 

AN ACT for the relief of certain settlers on restored railroad lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That all persons who shall have 
settled and made valuable and permanent improvements upon any odd 
numbered section of land within any railroad withdrawal in good faith 
and with the permission or license of the railroad company for whose 
benefit the same shall have been made, and with the expectation of pur- 
chasing of such company the land so settled upon, which land so settled 
upon and improved may, for any cause, be restored to the public domain, 
and who, at the time of such restoration, may not be entitled to enter 
and acquire title to such land UDder the preemption, homestead, or 
timber-culture acts of the United States, shall be permitted at any 
time within three months after such restoration, and under such rules 
and regulations as the Commissioner of the General Land Office may 
prescribe, to purchase not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres in 
extent of the same by legal subdivisions, at the price of two dollars 
and fifty cents per acre, and to receive patents therefor. 

Approved, January 13, 1881. (21 Stat., 315.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 181 

[No. 23.] 

CLIMATIC HINDRANCES. 

AN ACT to amend section 2297 of the Revised Statutes, relating to homestead 

settlers. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section numbered twenty- 
two hundred and ninety- seven, of title numbered thirty-two, be amended 
by adding thereto the following proviso, namely : Provided, That where 
there may be climatic reasons the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office may, in his discretion, allow the settler twelve months from the 
date of filing in which to commence his residence on said land under 
such rules and regulations as he may prescribe. 

Approved, March 3, 1881. (21 Stat., 511.) 



[No. 24.] 

SPECIAL SURVEY DEPOSITS. 

AN ACT making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the 
fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-three 3 and for other 
purposes. 

* # # # # . # # 

Provided further, That no certificate issued for a deposit of money 
for the survey of lands under section twenty-four hundred and three 
of the Eevised Statutes, and the act approved March third, eighteen 
hundred and seventy-nine, amendatory thereof, shall be received in pay- 
ment for lands except at the land office in which the lands surveyed for 
which the deposit was made are subject to entry, and not elsewhere* 
but this section shall not be held to impair, prejudice, or affect in any 
manner certificates issued or deposits and contracts made under the 
provisions of said act prior to the passage of this act. 

Approved, August 7, 1882. (22 Stat., 327.) 



[No. 25.] 

REGISTERS' AND RECEIVERS' FEES. 

AN ACT iu relation to certain fees allowed registers and receivers. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the fee allowed registers 
and receivers for testimony reduced by them to writing for claimants, 
in establishing preemption and homestead rights and mineral entries, 
and in contested cases, shall not be considered or taken into account in 
determining the maximum of compensation of said officers. 

Sec 2. That registers and receivers shall, upon application, furnish 
plats or diagrams of townships in their respective districts showing 



182 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

what lands are vacant and what lands are taken, and shall be allowed 
to receive compensation therefor from the party obtaining said plat or 
diagram at such rates as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office; and said officers shall, upon application by the 
proper State or Territorial authorities, furnish, for the purpose of taxa- 
tion, a list of all lands sold in their respective districts, together with 
the names of the purchasers, and shall be allowed to receive compensa- 
tion for the same not to exceed ten cents per entry ; and the sums thus 
received for plats and lists shall not be considered or taken into account 
in determining the maximum of compensation of said officers. 
Approved, March 3, 1883. (22 Stat., 484.) 



[No. 26.] 

,ANDS IN ALASKA. 

AN ACT providing a civil government for Alaska. 
####### 

Sec. 8. That the said District of Alaska is hereby created a land dis- 
trict, and a United States land office for said district is hereby located 
at Sitka. The commissioner provided for by this act, to reside at Sitka, 
shall be ex officio register of said land office, and the clerk provided for 
by this act shall be ex officio receiver of public moneys, and the mar- 
shal provided for by this act shall be ex officio surveyor-general of said 
district, and the laws of the United States relating to mining claims, 
and the rights incident thereto, shall, from and after the passage of 
this act, be in full force and effect in said district, under the adminis- 
tration thereof herein provided for, subject to such regulations as may 
be made by the Secretary of the Interior, approved by the President : 
Provided, That the Indians or other persons in said district shall not 
be disturbed in the possession of any lands actually in their use or 
occupation or now claimed by them, but the terms under which such 
persons may acquire title to such lands is reserved for future legislation 
by Congress : And provided further, That parties who have located 
mines or mineral privileges therein under the laws of the United States 
applicable to the public domain, or who have occupied and improved 
or exercised acts of ownership over such claims, shall not be disturbed 
therein, but shall be allowed to perfect their title to such claims by pay- 
ment as aforesaid: And provided also, That the land, not exceeding six 
hundred and forty acres, at any station now occupied as missionary 
stations among the Indian tribes in said section, with the improvements 
thereon erected by or for such societies, shall be continued in the occu- 
pancy of the several religious societies to which said missionary stations 
respectively belong until action by Congress. But nothing contained 
in this act shall be construed to put in force in said district the general 
land laws of the United States. 

Approved, May 17, 1884. (23 Stat., 24.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 183 

| No. 27.] 

INDIAN HOMESTEADS. 

AN ACT making .appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian 
Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, for 
the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and for other 
purposes. 

That such. Indians as may now be located on public lands, or as may 
under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, or otherwise, here- 
after so locate may avail themselves of the provisions of the homestead 
laws as fully and to the same extent as may now be done by citizens 
of the United States; and to aid such Indians in making selections of 
homesteads and the necessary proofs at tlie proper land offices, one 
thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby 
appropriated ; but no fees or commissions shall be charged on account 
of said entries or proofs. All patents therefor shall be of the legal effect, 
and declare that the United States does and will hold the land thus 
entered for the period of twenty-five years, in trust for the sole use and 
benefit of the Indian by whom such entry shall have been made, or, in 
case of his decease, of his widow and heirs according to the laws of the 
State or Territory where such land is located, and at the expiration of 
said period the United States will convey the same by patent to said 
Indian, or his widow and heirs as aforesaid, in fee, discharged of said 
trust and free of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever. 

Approved, July 4, 1884. (23 Stat., 96.) 



[No. 28.] 

SETTLERS WITHIN RAILROAD LIMITS. 
AN ACT to protect homestead settlers within railway limits and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That all homestead settlers on 
public lands within the railway limits restricted to less than one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land who have heretofore made or may hereafter 
make the additional entry allowed either by the act approved March 
third, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, or the act approved July 
first, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, after having made final proof 
of settlement and cultivation under the original entry shall be entitled 
to have the lands covered by the additional entry patented without any 
further cost or proof of settlement and cultivation. 

Approved May 6, 1886. (24 Stat., 22.) 



[No. 29.] 



REGISTERS' AND RECEIVERS' FEES-^ACTS OF AUGUST 4, 1886, AND MARCH 

3, 1887. ' 



Hereafter all fees collected by registers or receivers, from any source 
whatever, which would increase their salaries beyond three thousand 



184 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

dollars each a year shall be covered into the Treasury, except only so 
much as may be necessary to pay the actual cost of clerical services 
employed exclusively in contested cases; and they shall make report 
quarterly, under oath, of all expenditures for such clerical services, 
with vouchers therefor. 

Act approved August 4, 1886 (24 Stat., 239\ and act approved March 
3, 1887 (Id., 526). 



[No. 30.] 

REIMBURSEMENT FOR FAILURE OF TITLE IN NEBRASKA AND KANSAS. 

AN ACT for the relief of settlers and purchasers of lands on the public domain in 
the States of Nebraska and Kansas. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of re-im- 
bursing persons, and the grantees, heirs, and devisees of persons, who, 
under the homestead, preemption, or other laws, settled upon or pur- 
chased lands within the grant made by an act entitled "An act for a 
grant of lands to the State of Kansas to aid in the construction of the 
Northern Kansas Railroad and Telegraph," approved July twenty- third, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and to whom patents have been issued 
therefor, but against which persons, or their grantees, heirs, or dev- 
isees, decrees have been or may hereafter be rendered by the United 
States circuit courts on account of the priority of said grant made in 
the act above entitled, the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
lars, or so much thereof as shall be required for said purpose, is hereby 
appropriated: Provided, however, That no part of said sum shall be 
paid to anyone of said parties until he shall have filed with the Secre- 
tary of the Interior a copy of the said decree, duly certified, and also 
a certificate of the judge of said court rendering the same to the effect 
that such a decree was rendered in a bona fide controversy between 
a plaintiff showing title under the grant made in said act and a defend- 
ant holding the patent or holding by deed under the patentee, and that 
the decision was in favor of the plaintiff on the ground of the priority 
of the grant made by said act to the filing, settlement, or purchase by 
the defendant or his grantor; and said claimant shall also file with the 
said decree and certificate a bill of the costs in such case, duly certi- 
fied by the judge and clerk of said court. Thereupon it shall be the 
duty of the Secretary of the Interior to adjust the amount due to each 
defendant on the basis of what he shall have paid, not exceeding three 
dollars and fifty cents per acre for the tract, his title to which shall 
have failed as aforesaid, and the costs appearing by the bill thereof so 
certified as hereinbefore provided. He shall then make a requisition 
upon the Treasury for the sum found to be due to such claimant, or his 
heirs and devisees or assigns, and shall pay the same to him, taking 
such release, acquittance, or discharge as shall forever bar any further 
claim against the United States on account of the failure of the title as 
aforesaid: Provided further, That when any person, his grantees, heirs, 
assigns, or devisees, shall prove to the satisfaction of the Secretary of 
the Interior that his case is like the case of those described in the pre- 
ceding portions of this act, except that he has not been sued and sub- 
jected to judgment as hereinbefore provided, and that he has in good 
faith paid to the person holding the prior title by the grant herein 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 185 

referred to the sum demanded of him, without Jitigation, such Secre- 
tary shall pay to such person such sum as he has so paid, not exceeding 
three dollars and fifty cents per acre, taking his release therefor as 
hereinbefore provided. 

Sec. 2. That the provisions of this act shall only apply to the actual 
and bona fide settlers on the lands herein referred to, his or their heirs, 
assigns, or legal representatives, and no one person shall be entitled to 
the benefits of this act for compensation for more than one hundred and 
sixty acres of land : Provided, That all other persons who purchased 
any part of said land at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and 
the money was actually paid into the Treasury, such person, his heirs, 
assigns, or legal representatives shall be entitled to repayment of the 
money so actually paid by them. 

Approved, March 3, 1887. (24 Stat., 550.) 



[No. 31.] 

ADJUSTMENT OF RAILROAD LAND GRANTS. 

AN ACT to provide for the adjustment of land grants made by Congress to aid in the 
construction of railroads, and for the forfeiture of unearned lands, and for other 
purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the 
Interior be, and is hereby authorized and directed to immediately 
adjust, in accordance with the decisions of the Supreme Court, each 
of the railroad land grants made by Congress to aid in the construc- 
tion of railroads and heretofore unadjusted. 

Sec. 2. That if it shall appear, upon the completion of such adjust- 
ments respectfully [respectively], or sooner, that lands have been, from 
any cause, heretofore erroneously certified or patented, by the United 
States, to or for the use or benefit of any company claiming by, through, 
or under grant from the United States, to aid in the construction of a 
railroad, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to thereupon 
demand from such company a relinquishment or reconveyance to the 
United States of all such lands, whether within granted or indemnity 
limits; and if such company shall neglect or fail to so reconvey such 
lands to the United States within ninety days after the aforesaid demand 
shall have been made, it shall thereupon be the duty of the Attorney- 
General to commence and prosecute in the proper courts the necessary 
proceedings to cancel all patents, certification, or other evidence of title 
heretofore issued for such lands, and to restore the title thereof to the 
United States. 

Sec. 3. That if, in the adjustment of said grants, it shall appear that 
the homestead or preem ption entry of any bona fide settler has been 
erroneously canceled on account of any railroad grant or the withdrawal 
of public lands from market, such settler upon application shall be 
reiu stated in all his rights and allowed to perfect his entry by comply- 
ing with the public land laws : Provided, That he has not located another 
claim or made an entry in lieu of the one so erroneously canceled : And 
provided also, That he did not voluntarily abandon said original entry: 
And provided further, That if any of said settlers do not renew their 
application to be reinstated within a reasonable time, to be fixed by the 



186 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Secretary of the Interior, then all such unclaimed lands shall be dis- 
posed of under the public land laws, with priority of right given to 
bona fide purchasers of said unclaimed lands, if any, and if there be 
no such purchasers, then to bona fide settlers residing thereon. 

Sec. 4. That as to all lands, except those mentioned in the foregoing 
section, which have been so erroneously certified or patented as afore- 
said, and which have been sold by the grantee company to citizens of 
the United States, or to persons who have declared their intention to 
become such citizens, the person or persons so purchasing in good faith, 
his heirs or assigns, shall be entitled to the land so purchased, upon 
making proof of the fact of such purchase at the proper land office, 
within such time and under such rules as may be prescribed by the Sec- 
retary of the Interior, after the grants respectively shall have been 
adjusted ; and patents of the United States shall issue therefor, and shall 
relate back to the date of the original certification or patenting, and 
the Secretary of the Interior, on behalf of the United States, shall 
demand payment from the company which has so disposed of such lands 
of an amount equal to the Government price of similar lands ; and in 
case of neglect or refusal of such company to make payment as here- 
after specified, within ninety days after the demand shall have been 
made, the Attorney-General shall cause suit or suits to be brought 
against such company for the said amount : Provided That nothing in 
this act shall prevent any purchaser of lands erroneously withdrawn, 
certified, or patented as aforesaid from recovering the purchase money 
therefor from the grantee company, less the amount paid to the United 
States by such company as by this act required : And provided, That 
a mortgage or pledge of said lands by the company shall not be con- 
sidered as a sale for the purpose of this act, nor shall this act be 
construed as a declaration of forfeiture of any portion of any land-grant 
for conditions broken, or as authorizing an entry for the same, or as a 
waiver of any rights that the United States may have on account of 
any breach of said conditions. 

Sec. 5. That where any said company shall have sold to citizens of 
the United States, or to persons who have declared their intention to 
become such citizens, as a part of its grant, lands not conveyed to or 
for the use of such company, said lands being the numbered sections 
prescribed in the grant, and being coterminous with the constructed 
parts of said road, and where the lands so sold are for any reason excepted 
from the operation of the grant to said company, it shall be lawful for 
the bona fide purchaser thereof from said company to make payment 
to the United States for said lands at the ordinary Government price 
for like lands, and thereupon patents shall issue therefor to the said 
bona fide purchaser, his heirs or assigns : Provided, That all lands shall 
be excepted from the provisions of this section which at the date of such 
sales were in the bona fide occupation of adverse claimants under the 
preemption or homestead laws of the United States, and whose claims 
and occupation have not since been voluntarily abandoned, as to which 
excepted lands the said preemption and homestead claimants shall be 
permitted to perfect their proofs and entries and receive patents therefor : 
Provided further, That this section shall not apply to lands settled upon 
subsequent to the first day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty- 
two, by persons claiming to enter the same under the settlement laws 
of the United States, as to which lands the parties claiming the same as 
aforesaid shall be entitled to prove up and enter as in other like cases. 

Sec. 6. That where any such lands have been sold and conveyed, as 
the property of any railroad company, for the State and county taxes 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 187 

thereon, and the grant to such, company has been thereafter forfeited, 
the purchaser thereof shall have the prior right, which shall continue 
for one year from the approval of this act, and no longer, to purchase 
such lands from the United States at the Government price, and pat- 
ents for such lands shall thereupon issue. Provided, That said lands 
were not, previous to or at the time of the taking effect of such grant, 
in the possession of or subject to the right of any actual settler. 

Sec. 7. That no more lands shall be certified or conveyed to any State 
or to any corporation or individual, for the benefit of either of the com- 
panies herein mentioned, where it shall appear to the Secretary of the 
Interior that such transfers may create an excess over the quantity of 
lands to which said State corporation or individual would be rightfully 
entitled. 

Approved, March 3, 1887. (24 Stat., 556.) 



[No. 32/ 



PUBLIC LANDS WITHDRAWN FROM PRIVATE ENTRY, EXCEPT IN 
MISSOURI — HOMESTEAD LAWS MODIFIED. 

AN ACT to withdraw certain public lands from private entry, and for other pur- 
poses. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Mouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the pas- 
sage of this act no public lands of the United States, except those in 
the State of Missouri, shall be subject to private entry. 

Sec. 2. That any person who has not heretofore perfected title to a 
tract of land of which he has made entry under the homestead law, may 
make a homestead entry of not exceeding one-quarter section of public 
land subject to such entry, snch previous filing or entry to the contrary 
notwithstanding; but this right shall not apply to persons who perfect 
title to lands under the preemption or homestead laws already initiated : 
Provided, That all preemption settlers upon the public lands whose 
claims have been initiated prior to the passage of this act may change 
such entries to homestead entries and proceed to perfect their titles to 
their respective claims under the homestead law notwithstanding they 
may have heretofore had the benefit of such law, but such settlers who 
perfect title to such claims under the homestead law shall not there- 
after be entitled to enter other lands under the preemption or home- 
stead laws of the United States. 

Sec. 3. That whenever it shall be made to appear to the register and 
receiver of any public land office, under such regulations as the Sec- 
retary of the Interior may prescribe, that any settler upon the public 
domain under existing law is unable, by reason of a total or partial 
destruction or failure of crops, sickness, or other unavoidable casualty, 
to secure a support for himself, herself, or those dependent upon him or 
her upon the lands settled upon, then such register and receiver may 
grant to such a settler a leave of absence from the claim upon which 
he or she has filed for a period not exceeding one year at any one time, 
and such settler so granted leave of absence shall forfeit no rights by 
reason of such absence: Provided, That the time of such actual absence 
shall not be deducted from the actual residence required by law. 



188 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Sec. 4. That the price of all sections and parts of sections of the pub- 
lic lands within the limits of the portions of the several grants of lands 
to aid in the construction of railroads which have been heretofore and 
which may hereafter be forfeited, which were by the act making such 
grants or have since been increased to the double minimum price, and 
also of all lands within the limits of any such railroad grant, but not 
embraced in such grant, lying adjacent to and coterminous with the 
portions of the line of any such railroad which shall not be completed 
at the date of this act, is hereby fixed at one dollar and twenty-five 
cents per acre. 

Sec. 5. That any homestead settler who has heretofore entered less 
than one-quarter section of land may enter other and additional land 
lying contiguous to the original entry which shall not, with the land 
first entered and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and 
sixty acres, without proof of residence upon and cultivation of the 
additional entry; and if final proof of settlement and cultivation has 
been made for the original entry when the additional entry is made, 
then the patent shall issue without further proof: Provided, That this 
section shall not apply to or for the benefit of any person who at the 
date of making application for entry hereunder does not own and 
occupy the lands covered by his original entry : And provided, That if 
the original entry should fail for any reason prior to patent, or should 
appear to be illegal or fraudulent, the additional entry shall not be per- 
mitted, or, if having been initiated, shall be canceled. 

Sec. 6. That every person entitled, under the provisions of the home- 
stead laws, to enter a homestead, who has heretofore complied with or 
who shall hereafter comply with the conditions of said laws, and who 
shall have made his final proof thereunder for a quantity of land less 
than one hundred and sixty acres and received the receiver's final 
receipt therefor, shall be entitled under said laws to enter as a personal 
right, and not assignable, by legal subdivisions of the public lands of 
the United States subject to homestead entry, so much additional land 
as added to the quantity previously so entered by him shall not ex- 
ceed one hundred and sixty acres: Provided, That in no case shall 
patent issue for the land covered by such additional entry until the 
person making such additional entry shall have actually and in con- 
formity with the homestead laws resided upon and cultivated the lands 
so additionally entered, and otherwise fully complied with such laws: 
Provided also, That this section shall not be construed as affecting any 
rights as to location of soldiers' certificates heretofore issued under sec- 
tion two thousand three hundred and six of the Eevised Statutes. 

Sec. 7. That the "act to provide additional regulations for homestead 
and preemption entries of public lands," approved March third, eight- 
een hundred and seventy-nine, shall not be construed to forbid the 
taking of testimony for final proof within ten days following the day 
advertised as upon which such final proof shall be made in cases where 
accident or unavoidable delays have prevented the applicant or wit- 
nesses from making such proof on the date specified. 

Sec. 8. That nothing in this act shall be construed as suspending, 
repealing, or in any way rendering inoperative the provisions of the 
act entitled "An act to provide for the disposal of abandoned and 
useless military reservations," approved July fifth, eighteen hundred 
and eighty-four. 

Approved, March 2, 1889. (25 Stat., 854.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 189 

[No. 33.] 

DISPOSAL OF THE GREAT SIOUX INDIAN RESERVATION. 

AN ACT to divide a portion of the reservation of the Sioux Nation of Indians in 
Dakota into separate reservations and to secure the relinquishment of the Indian 
title to the remainder, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the following tract of 
land, being a part of the Great Reservation of the Sioux Nation, in the 
Territory of Dakota, is hereby set apart for a permanent reservation 
for the Indians receiving rations and annuities at the Pine Ridge Agency, 
in the Territory of Dakota, namely : Beginning at the intersection of the 
one hundred and third meridian of longitude with the northern bound- 
ary of the State of Nebraska; thence north along said meridian to the 
South Fork of Cheyenne River, and down said stream to the mouth of 
Battle Creek ; thence due east to White River ; thence down White River 
to the mouth of Black Pipe Creek, on White River; thence due south to 
said north line of the State of Nebraska ; thence west on said north line 
to the place of beginning. Also, the following tract of land situate in 
the State of Nebraska, namely: Beginning at a point on the boundary- 
line between the State of Nebraska and the Territory of Dakota where 
the range line between ranges forty-four and forty-five west of the sixth 
principal meridian, in the Territory of Dakota, intersects said boundary- 
line; thence east along said boundary-line five miles; thence due south 
five miles ; thence due west ten miles ; thence due north to said boundary- 
line; thence due east along said boundary-line to the place of beginning: 
Provided, That the said tract of land in the State of Nebraska shall 
be reserved, by Executive order, only so long as it may be needed for 
the use and protection of the Indians receiving rations and annuities 
at the Pine Ridge Agency. 

Sec. 2. That the following tract of land, being a part of the said 
Great Reservation of the Sioux Nation, in the Territory of Dakota, 
is hereby set apart for a permanent reservation for the Indians receiv- 
ing rations and annuities at the Rosebud Agency, in said Territory of 
Dakota, namely : Commencing in the middle of the main channel of 
the Missouri River at the intersection of the south line of Brule County ; 
thence down said middle of the main channel of said river to the inter- 
section of the ninety-ninth degree of west longitude from Greenwich; 
thence due south to the forty- third parallel of latitude; thence west 
along said parallel to a point due south from the mouth of Black Pipe 
Creek; thence due north to the mouth of Black Pipe Creek; thence 
down White River to a point intersecting the west line of Gregory 
County extended north; thence south on said extended west line of 
Gregory County to the intersection of the south line of Brule County 
extended west; thence due east on said south line of Brule County 
extended to the point of beginning in the Missouri River, including 
entirely within said reservation all islands, if any, in said river. 

Sec. 3. That the following tract of land, being a part of the said 
Great Reservation of the Sioux Nation, in the Territory of Dakota, is 
hereby set apart for a permanent reservation for the Indians receiving 
rations and annuities at the Standing Rock Agency, in the said Terri- 
tory of Dakota, namely : Beginning at a point in the center of the main 
channel of the Missouri River, opposite the mouth of Cannon Ball River ; 
thence down said center of the main channel to a point ten miles north 
of the mouth of the Moreau River, including also within said reserva- 



190 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

tion all islands, if any, in said river ; thence due west to the one hundred 
and second degree of west longitude from Greenwich; thence north 
along said meridian to its intersection with the South Branch of Can- 
non Ball Eiver, also known as Cedar Creek; thence down said South 
Branch of Cannon Ball Eiver to its intersection with the main Cannon 
Ball Eiver, and down said main Cannon Ball Eiver to the center of the 
main channel of the Missouri Eiver at the place of beginning. 

Sec. 4. That the following tract of land, being a part of the said 
Great Eeservation of the Sioux Nation, in the Territory of Dakota, is 
hereby set apart for a permanent reservation for the Indians receiving 
rations and annuities at the Cheyenne Eiver Agency, in the said Ter- 
ritory of Dakota, namely: Beginning at a point in the center of the 
main channel of the Missouri Eiver, ten miles north of the mouth of 
the Moreau Eiver, said point being the southeastern corner of the Stand- 
ing Eock Eeservation; thence down said center of the main channel 
of the Missouri Eiver, including also entirely within said reservation all 
islands, if any, in said river, to a point opposite the mouth of the Chey- 
enne Eiver; thence west to said Cheyenne Eiver, and up the same to 
its intersection with the one hundred and second meridian of longitude; 
thence north along said meridian to its intersection with a line due west 
from a point in the Missouri Eiver ten miles north of the mouth of the 
Moreau Eiver; thence due east to the place of beginning. 

Sec. 5. That the following tract of land, being a part of the said 
Great Eeservation of the Sioux Nation, in the Territory of Dakota, is 
hereby set apart for a permanent reservation for the Indians receiving 
rations and annuities at the Lower Brule Agency, in said Territory of 
Dakota, namely : Beginning on the Missouri Eiver at Old Fort George; 
thence running due west to the western boundary of Presho County ; 
thence running south on said western boundary to the forty-fourth 
degree of latitude; thence on said forty-fourth degree of latitude to 
western boundary of township number seventy-two ; thence south on 
said township western line to an intersecting line running due west 
from Fort Lookout; thence eastwardly on said line to the center of the 
main channel of the Missouri Eiver at Fort Lookout; thence north in 
the center of the main channel of the said river to the original starting 
point. 

Sec. 6. That the following tract of land, being a part of the Great 
Eeservation of the Sioux Nation, in the Territory of Dakota, is hereby 
set apart for a permanent reservation for the Indians receiving rations 
and annuities at the Crow Creek Agency, in said Territory of Dakato, 
namely: The whole of township one hundred and six, range seventy; 
township one hundred and seven, range seventy-one; township one 
hundred and eight, range seventy-one; township one hundred and 
eight, range seventy- two; township one hundred and nine, range 
seventy- two, and the south half of township one hundred and nine, 
range seventy-one, and all except sections one, two, three, four, nine, 
ten, eleven, and twelve of township one hundred and seven, range 
seventy, and such parts as lie on the east or left bank of the Missouri 
Eiver, of the following townships, namely: Township one hundred and 
six, range seventy-one; township one hundred and seven, range seventy- 
two; township one hundred and eight, range seventy- three; township 
one hundred and eight, range seventy-four ; township one hundred and 
eight, range seventy- five; township one hundred and eight, range 
seventy-six; township one hundred and nine, range seventy- three ; 
township one hundred and nine, range seventy-four; south half of 
township one hundred and nine, range seventy-five, and township one 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 191 

hundred and seven, range seventy- three; also the west half of township 
one hundred and six, range sixty-nine, and sections sixteen, seventeen, 
eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, 
thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, and thirty-three, of township one hundred 
and seven, range sixty-nine. 

Sec. 7. That each member of the Santee Sioux tribe of Indians now 
occupying a reservation in the State of Nebraska not having already 
taken allotments shall be entitled to allotments upon said reserve in 
Nebraska, as follows : To each head of a family, one-quarter of a sec- 
tion; to each single person over eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a 
section; to each orphan child under eighteen years, one eighth of a 
section ; to each other person under eighteen years of age now living, 
one-sixteenth of a section; with title thereto, in accordance with the 
provisions of article six of the treaty concluded April twenty-ninth, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and the agreement with said San- 
tee Sioux approved February twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and 
seventy- seven, and rights under the same in all other respects con- 
forming to this act. And said Santee Sioux shall be entitled to all 
other benefits under this act in the same manner and with the same 
conditions as if they were residents upon said Sioux Eeservation, 
receiving rations at one of the agencies herein named: Provided, That 
all allotments heretofore made to said Santee Sioux in Nebraska are 
hereby ratified and confirmed; and each member of the Flandreau 
band of Sioux Indians is hereby authorized to take allotments on the 
Great Sioux Eeservation, or in lieu therefor shall be paid at the rate 
of one dollar per acre for the land to which they would be entitled, to 
be paid out of the proceeds of lands relinquished under this act, which 
shall be used under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior; and 
said Flandreau band of Sioux Indians is in all other respects entitled 
to the benefits of this act the same as if receiving rations and annuities 
at any of the agencies aforesaid. 

Sec. 8. That the President is hereby authorized and required, when- 
ever in his opinion any reservation of such Indians, or any part thereof, 
is advantageous for agricultural or grazing purposes, and the progress 
in civilization of the Indians receiving rations on either or any of said 
reservations shall be such as to encourage the belief that an allotment 
in severalty to such Indians, or any of them, would be for the best inter- 
est of said Indians, to cause said reservation, or so much thereof as is 
necessary, to be surveyed, or resurveyed, and to allot the lands in said 
reservation in severalty to the Indians located thereon as aforesaid, in 
quantities as follows: To each head of a family, three hundred and 
twenty acres; to each single person over eighteen years of age, one- 
fourth of a section ; to each orphan child under eighteen years of age, 
one-fourth of a section; and to each other person under eighteen years 
now living, or who may be born prior to the date of the order of the 
President directing an allotment of the lands embraced in any reserva- 
tion, one-eighth of a section. In case there is not sufficient land in 
either of said reservations to allot lands to each individual of the classes 
above named in quantities as above provided, the lands embraced in 
such reservation or reservations shall be allotted to each individual of 
each of said classes pro rata in accordance with the provisions of this 
act : Provided, That where the lands on any reservation are mainly 
valuable for grazing purposes, an additional allotment of such grazing 
lands, in quantities as above provided, shall be made to each individ- 
ual; or in case any two or more Indians who may be entitled to allot- 
ments shall so agree, the President may assign the grazing lands to 



192 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

which they may be entitled to them in one tract, and to be held and 
used in common. 

Sec. 9. That all allotments set apart under the provisions of this act 
shall be selected by the Indians, heads of families selecting for their 
minor children, and the agents shall select for each orphan child, and in 
such manner as to embrace the improvements of the Indians making 
the selection. Where the improvements of two or more Indians have 
been made on the same legal subdivision of land, unless they shall 
otherwise agree, a provisional line may be run dividing said lands 
between them, and the amount to which each is entitled shall be equal- 
ized in the assignment of the remainder of the land to which they are 
entitled under this act : Provided, That if any one entitled to an allot- 
ment shall fail to make a selection within five years after the President 
shall direct that allotments may be made on a particular reservation, 
the Secretary of the Interior may direct the agent of such tribe or band, 
if such there be, and if there be no agent, then a special agent appointed 
for that purpose, to make a selection for such Indian, which selection 
shall be allotted as in cases where selections are made by the Indians, 
and patents shall issue in like manner: Provided, That these sections 
as to the allotments shall not be compulsory without the consent of the 
majority of the adult members of the tribe, except that the allotments 
shall be made as provided for the orphans. 

Sec. 10. That the allotments provided for in this act shall be made 
by special agents appointed by the President for such purpose, and the 
agents in charge of the respective reservations on which the allotments 
are directed to be made, under such rules and regulations as the Secre- 
tary of the Interior may from time to time prescribe, and shall be certi- 
fied by such agents to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in duplicate, 
one copy to be retained in the Indian Office and the other to be trans- 
mitted to the Secretary of the Interior for his action, and to be deposited 
in the General Land Office. 

Sec. 11. That upon the approval of the allotments provided for in 
this act by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall cause patents to 
issue therefor in the name of the allottees, which patents shall be of 
the legal effect, and declare that the United States does and will hold 
the lands thus allotted for the period of twenty-five years, in trust for 
the sole use and benefit of the Indian to whom such allotment shall 
have been made, or, in case of his decease, of his heirs according to 
the laws of the State or Territory where such land is located, and that 
at the expiration of said period the United States will convey the same 
by patent to said Indian, or his heirs, as aforesaid, in fee, discharged of 
said trust and free of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever, and pat- 
ents shall issue accordingly. And each and every allottee under this 
act shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges and be subject to 
all the provisions of section six of the act approved February eighth, 
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, entitled " An act to provide for the 
allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, 
and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the 
Territories over the Indians and for other purposes." Provided, That 
the President of the United States may in any case, in his discretion, 
extend the period by a term not exceeding ten years ; and if any lease 
or conveyance shall be made of the land set apart and allotted as herein 
provided, or any contract made touching the same, before the expira- 
tion of the time above mentioned, such lease or conveyance or contract 
shall be absolutely null and void: Provided further, That the law of 
descent and partition in force in the State or Territory where the lands 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 193 

may be situated shall apply thereto alter patents therefor have been 
executed and delivered. Each of the patents aforesaid shall be recorded 
in the General Land Office, and afterward delivered, free of charge, to 
the allottee entitled thereto. 

Sec. 12. That at any time after lands have been allotted to all the 
Indians of any tribe as herein provided, or sooner, if in the opinion of 
the President it shall be for the best interests of said tribe, it shall be 
lawful for the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with such Indian 
tribe for tbe purchase and release by said tribe, in conformity with the 
treaty or statute undei which such reservation is held of such portions 
of its reservation not allotted as such tribe shall, from time to time, 
consent to sell, on such terms and conditions as shall be considered 
just and equitable between the United States and said tribe of Indians, 
which purchase shall not be complete until ratified by Congress: Pro- 
vided, however, That all lands adapted to agriculture, with or without 
irrigation, so sold or released to the United States by any Indian tribe 
shall be held by the United States for the sole purpose of securing 
homes to actual settlers, and shall be disposed of by the United States 
to actual and bona fide settlers only in tracts not exceeding one hun- 
dred and sixty acres to any one person, on such terms as Congress 
shall prescribe, subject to grants which Congress may make in aid of 
education: And provided, further, That no patent shall issue therefor 
except to the person so taking the same as and for a homestead, or his 
heirs, and after the expiration of five years' occupancy thereof as such 
homestead ; and any conveyance of said lands so taken as a homestead, 
or any contract touching the same, or lien thereon, created prior to the 
date of such patent, shall be null and void. And the sums agreed to 
be paid by the United States as purchase money for any portion of any 
such reservation shall be held in the Treasury of the United States for 
the sole use of the tribe or tribes of Indians to whom such reservation 
belonged; and the same, with interest thereon at five per centum per 
annum, shall be at all times subject to appropriation by Congress for 
the education and civilization of such tribe or tribes of Indians, or the 
members thereof. The patents aforesaid shall be recorded in the Gen- 
eral Land Office, and afterward delivered, free of charge, to the allottee 
entitled thereto. 

Sec. 13. That any Indian receiving and entitled to rations and annui- 
ties at either of the agencies mentioned in this act at the time the 
same shall take effect, but residing upon any portion of said Great 
Reservation not included in either of the separate reservations herein 
established, may, at his option, within one year from the time when 
this act shall take effect, and within one year after he has been noti- 
fied of his said right of option in such manner as the Secretary of the 
Interior shall direct by recording his election with the proper agent at 
the agency to which he belongs, have the allotment to which he would 
be otherwise entitled on one of said separate reservations upon the land 
where such Indian may then reside, such allotment in all other respects 
to conform to the allotments hereinbefore provided. Each member of 
the Ponca tribe of Indians now occupying a part of the old Ponca Res- 
ervation, within the limits of the said Great Sioux Reservation, shall 
be entitled to allotments upon said old Ponca Reservation as follows: 
To each head of a family, three hundred and twenty acres; to each 
single person over eighteen years of age, one-fourth of a section; to 
each orphan child under eighteen years of age, one-fourth of a section; 
and to each other person under eighteen years of age now living, one- 
eighth of a section, with title thereto and rights under the same in all 
3073 13 



194 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

other respects conforming to this act. And said Poncas shall be enti- 
tled to all other benefits under this act in the same manner and with the 
same conditions as if they were a part of the Sioux Nation receiving 
rations at one of the agencies herein named. When allotments to the 
Ponca tribe of Indians and to such other Indians as allotments are pro- 
vided for by this act shall have been made upon that portion of said 
reservation which is described in the act entitled "An act to extend 
the northern boundary line of the State of Nebraska," approved March 
twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, the President shall, 
in pursuance of said act, declare that the Indian title is extinguished 
to all lands described in said act not so allotted hereunder, and there- 
upon all of said land not so allotted and included in s^d act of March 
twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, shall be open to set- 
tlement as provided in this act: Provided, That the allotments to 
Ponca and other Indians authorized by this act to be made upon the 
land described in the said act entitled "An act to extend the northern 
boundary of the State of Nebraska," shall be made within six months 
from the time this act shall take effect. 

Sec. 14. That in cases where the use of water for irrigation is neces- 
sary to render the lands within any Indian reservation created by this 
act available for agricultural purposes, the Secretary of the Interior 
be, and he is hereby, authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations 
as he may deem necessary to secure a just and equal distribution 
thereof among the Indians residing upon any such Indian reservation 
created by this aqt ; and no other appropriation or grant of water by 
any riparian proprietor shall be authorized or permitted to the damage 
of any other riparian proprietor. 

Sec. 15. That if any Indian has, under and in conformity with the 
provisions of the treaty with the Great Sioux Nation concluded April 
twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and proclaimed by the 
President February twenty fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, 
or any existing law, taken allotment of land within or without the 
limits of any of the separate reservations established by this act, such 
allotments are hereby ratified and made valid, and such Indian is enti- 
tled to a patent therefor in conformity with the provisions of said treaty 
and existing law and of the provisions of this act in relation to patents 
for individual allotments. 

Sec. 16. That the acceptance of this act by the Indians in manner and 
form as required by the said treaty concluded between the different 
bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians and the United States, April 
twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and proclaimed by the 
President February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, 
as hereinafter provided, shall be taken and held to be a release of 
all title on the part of the Indians receiving rations and annuities on 
each of the said separate reservations, to the lands described in each 
of the other separate reservations so created, and shall be held to 
confirm in the Indians entitled to receive rations at each of said sep- 
arate reservations, respectively, to their separate and exclusive use 
and benefit, all the title and interest of every name and nature 
secured therein to the different bands of the Sioux Nation by said 
treaty of April twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight. This 
release shall not affect the title of any individual Indian to his sepa- 
rate allotment on land not included in any of said separate reserva- 
tions provided for in this act, which title is hereby confirmed, nor 
any agreement heretofore made with the Chicago, Milwaukee and 
Saint Paul Railroad Company or the Dakota Central Railroad Com- 
pany for a right of way through said reservations ; and for any lands 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 195 

acquired by any such agreement to be used in connection therewith, 
except as hereinafter provided; but the Chicago, Milwaukee and 
Saint Paul Railway Company and the Dakota Central Eailroad Com- 
pany shall, respectively, have the right to take and use, prior to any 
white person, and to any corporation, the right of way provided for in 
said agreements, with not to exceed twenty acres of land in addition 
to the right of way, for stations for every ten miles of road; and said 
companies shall also, respectively, have the right to take and use for 
right of way, side-track, depot and station privileges, machine shop, 
freight-house, round-house, and yard facilities, prior to any white 
person, and to any corporation or association, so much of the two 
separate sections of land embraced in said agreements; also, the 
former company so much of the one hundred and eighty-eight acres, 
and the latter company so much of the seveny-five acres, on the east 
side of the Missouri Eiver, likewise embraced in said agreements, as 
the Secretary of the Interior shall decide to have been agreed upon 
and paid for by said railroad, and to be reasonably necessary upon 
each side of said river for approaches to the bridge of each of said 
companies to be constructed across the river, for right of way, side- 
track, depot and station privileges, machine shop, freight house, 
round-house, and yard facilities, and no more: Provided, That the said 
railway companies shall have made the payments according to the 
terms of said agreements for each mile of right of way and each acre 
of land for railway purposes, which said companies take and use 
under the provisions of this act, and shall satisfy the Secretary of the 
Interior to that effect: Provided further, That no part of the lands 
herein authorized to be taken shall be sold or conveyed except by 
way of sale of, or mortgage of, the radway itself. Nor shall any of 
said lands be used directly or indirectly for town site purposes, it 
being the intention hereof that said lands shall be held for general 
railway uses and purposes only, including stock-yards, warehouses, 
elevators, terminal and other facilities of and for said railways; but 
nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent any such 
railroad company from building upon such lands houses for the 
accommodation or residence of their employes, or leasing grounds 
contiguous to its tracks for warehouse or elevator purposes connected 
with said railways : And provided further, That said payments shall 
be made and said conditions performed within six months after this 
act shall take effect : And provided further, That said railway com- 
panies and each of them shall, within nine months after this act takes 
effect, definitely locate their respective lines of road, including all 
station grounds and terminals across and upon the lands of said reser- 
vation designated in said agreements, and shall also, within the said 
period of nine months, file with the Secretary of the Interior a map of 
such definite location, specifying clearly the line of road, the several 
station grounds, and the amount of land required for railway purposes, 
as herein specified, of the said separate sections of land and said tracts 
of one hundred and eighty eight acres and seventy-five acres, and the 
Secretary of the Interior shall, within three months after the filing of 
such map, designate the particular portions of said sections and of said 
tracts of land which the said railway companies, respectively, may take 
and hold under the provisions of this act for railway purposes. And 
the said railway companies, and each of them, shall, within three years 
after this act takes effect, construct, complete, and put in operation 
their said lines of road; and in case the said lines of road are not defi- 
nitely located and maps of location filed within the periods hereinbe- 
fore provided, or in case the said lines of road are not constructed, com- 



196 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

pleted, and put in operation within the time herein provided, then, and 
in either case, the lands granted for right of way, station grounds, or 
other railway purposes, as in this act provided, shall, without any fur- 
ther act or ceremony, be declared by proclamation of the President 
forfeited, and shall, without entry or further action on the part of the 
United States, revert to the United States and be subject to entry under 
the other provisions of this act; and whenever such forfeiture occurs 
the Secretary of the Interior shall ascertain the fact and give due 
notice thereof to the local land officers, and thereupon the lands so 
forfeited shall be open to homestead entry under the provisions of 
this act. 

Sec. 17. That it is hereby enacted that the seventh article of the said 
treaty of April twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty- eight, securing 
to said Indians the benefits of education, subject to such modifications 
as Congress shall deem most effective to secure to said Indians equiva- 
lent benefits of such education, shall continue in force for twenty years 
from and after the time this act shall take effect; and the Secretary of 
the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to purchase, from time to 
time, for the use of said Indians, such and so many American breeding 
cows of good quality, not exceeding twenty- five thousand in number, and 
bulls of like quality, not exceeding one thousand in number, as in his 
judgment can be under regulations furnished by him, cared for and pre- 
served, with their increase, by said Indians: Provided, That each head 
of family or single person over the age of eighteen years, who shall have 
or may hereafter take his or her allotment of land in severalty, shall be 
provided with two milch cows, one pair of oxen, with yoke and chain, 
or two mares and one set of harness in lieu of said oxen, yoke, and 
chain, as the Secretary of the Interior may deem advisable, and they 
shall also receive one plow, one wagon, one harrow, one hoe, one axe, 
and one pitchfork, all suitable to the work they may have to do, and 
also fifty dollars in cash ; to be expended under the direction of the 
Secretary of the Interior in aiding such Indians to erect a house and 
other buildings suitable for residence or the improvement of his 
allotment; no sales, barters, or bargains shall be made by any person 
other than said Indians with each other, of any of the personal prop- 
erty hereinbefore provided for, and any violation of this provision 
shall be deemed a misdemeanor and punished by fine not exceeding 
one hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both 
in the discretion of the court; that for two years the necessary seeds 
shall be provided to plant five acres of ground into different crops, 
if so much can be used, and provided that in the purchase of such 
seed preference shall be given to Indians who may have raised the 
same for sale, and so much money as shall be necessary for this pur- 
pose is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated; and in addition thereto there shall be set 
apart, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 
the sum of three millions of dollars, which said sum shall be deposited 
in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Sioux Nation 
of Indians as a permanent fund, the interest of which, at five per 
centum per annum, shall be appropriated, under the direction of the 
Secretary of the Interior, to the use of the Indians receiving rations 
and annuities upon the reservations created by this act, in proportion 
to the numbers that shall so receive rations and annuities at the time 
this act takes effect, as follows: One-half of said interest shall be so 
expended for the promotion of industrial and other suitable education 
among said Indians, and the other half thereof in such manner and for 
such purposes, including reasonable cash payments per capita as, in 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 197 

the judgment of said Secretary, shall, from time to time, most contri- 
bute to the advancement of said Indians in civilization and self-support; 
and the Santee Sioux, the Flandreau Sioux, and the Ponca Indians 
shall be included in the benefits of said permanent fund, as provided 
in sections seven and thirteen of this act: Provided, That after the 
Government has been reimbursed for the money expended for said 
Indians under the provisions of this act, the Secretary of the Interior 
may, in his discretion, expend, in addition to the interest of the per- 
manent fund, not to exceed ten per centum per annum of the principal 
of said fund in the employment of farmers and in the purchase of 
agricultural implements, teams, seeds, including reasonable cash pay- 
ments per capita, and other articles necessary to assist them in agri- 
cultural pursuits, and he shall report to Congress in detail each year 
his doings hereunder. And at the end of fifty years from the passage 
of this act, said fund shall be expended for the purpose of promoting 
education, civilization, and self-support among said Indians, or other- 
wise distributed among them as Congress shall from time to time 
thereafter determine. 

Sec. 18. That if any land in said Great Sioux Reservation is now 
occupied and used by any religious society for the purpose of mission- 
ary or educational work among said Indians, whether situate outside 
of or within the lines of any reservation constituted by this act, or if 
any such land is so occupied upon the Santee Sioux Reservation, in 
Nebraska, the exclusive occupation and use of said land, not exceed- 
ing one hundred and sixty acres in any one tract, is hereby, with the 
approval of the Secretary of the Interior, granted to any such society 
so long as the same shall be occupied and used by such society for edu- 
cational and missionary work among said Indians; and the Secretary of 
the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to give to such religious 
society patent of such tract of land to the legal effect aforesaid; and 
for the purpose of such educational or missionary work any such society 
may purchase, upon any of the reservations herein created, any land not 
exceeding in any one tract one hundred and sixty acres, not interfering 
with the title in severalty of any Indian, and with the approval of and 
upon such terms, not exceeding one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, 
as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. And the San- 
tee Normal Training School may, in like manner, purchase for such 
educational or missionary work on the Santee Reservation, in addition 
to the foregoing, in such location and quantity, not exceeding three 
hundred and twenty acres, as shall be approved by the Secretary of 
the Interior. 

Sec. 19. That all the provisions of the said treaty with the different 
bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians concluded April twenty ninth, 
eighteen hundred and sixty eight, and the agreement with the same 
approved February twenty eighth, eighteen hundred and seventy- seven, 
not in conflict with the provisions and requirements of this act, are 
hereby continued in force according to their tenor and limitation, any- 
thing in this act to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Sec. 20. That the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be erected 
not less than thirty school houses, and more, if found necessary, on the 
differeut reservations, at such points as he shall think for the best inter- 
est of the Indians, but at such distance only as will enable as many as 
possible attending schools to return home nights, as white children do 
attending district schools: And provided, That any white children re- 
siding in the neighborhood are entitled to attend the said school on 
such terms as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. 



198 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Sec. 21. That all the lands in the Great Sioux Eeservation outside 
of the separate reservations herein described are hereby restored to 
the public domain, except American Island, Farm Island, and Nio- 
brara Island, and shall be disposed of by the United States to actual 
settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead law (except sec- 
tion two thousand three hundred and one thereof) and under the law 
relating to town-sites: Provided, That each settler, under and in ac- 
cordance with the provisions of said homestead acts, shall pay to the 
United States, for the land so taken by him, in addition to the fees 
provided by law, the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre 
for all lands disposed of within the first three years after the taking 
effect of this act, and the sum of seventy-five cents per acre for all 
lands disposed of within the next two years following thereafter, and 
fifty cents per acre for the residue of the lands then undisposed of, and 
shall be entitled to a patent therefor according to said homestead laws, 
and after the full payment of said sums; but the rights of honorably 
discharged Union soldiers and sailors in the late civil war as defined 
and described in sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty- 
three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes of the United States, 
shall not be abridged, except as to said sums: Provided, That all 
lands herein opened to settlement under this act remaining undis- 
posed of at the end of ten years from the taking effect of this act 
shall be taken and accepted by the United States and paid for by 
said United States at fifty cents per acre, which amount shall be 
added to and credited to said Indians as part of their permanent fund, 
and said lands shall thereafter be part of the public domain of the 
United States, to be disposed of under the homestead laws of the United 
States, and the provisions of this act; and any conveyance of said 
lands so taken as a homestead, or any contract touching the same, or 
lien thereon, created prior to the date of final entry, shall be null and 
void: Provided, That there shall be reserved public highways four 
rods wide around every section of land alloted, or opened to settlement 
by this act, the section lines being the center of said highways ; but 
no deduction shall be made in the amount to be paid for each quarter- 
section of land by reason of such reservation. But if the said highway 
shall be vacated by any competent authority the title to the respective 
strips shall inure to the then owner of the tract of which it formed a 
part by the original survey. And provided further, That nothing in this 
act contained shall be so construed as to affect the right of Congress or 
of the government of Dakota to establish public highways, or to grant to 
railroad companies the right of way through said lands, or to exclude the 
said lands, or any thereof, from the operation of the general laws of the 
United States nowin force granting to rail way companies therightof way 
and depot grounds over and upon the public lands, American Island, 
an island in the Missouri River, near Chamberlain, in the Territory of 
Dakota, and now a part of the Sioux Reservation, is hereby donated to 
the said city of Chamberlain : Provided further, That said city of Cham- 
berlain shall formally accept the same within one year from the passage 
of this act, upon the express condition that the same shall be preserved 
and used for all time entire as a public park, and for no other purpose, 
to which all persons shall have free access; and said city shall have 
authority to adopt all proper rules and regulations for the improve- 
ment and care of said park ; and upon the failure of any of said condi- 
tions the said island shall revert to the United States, to be disposed 
of by future legislation only. Farm Island, an island in the Missouri 
Biver near Pierre, in the Territory of Dakota, and now a part of the 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 199 

Sioux Reservation, is hereby donated to tlie said city of Pierre: Pro- 
vided further, That said city of Pierre shall formally accept the same 
within one year from the passage of this act, upon the express condi- 
tion that the same shall be preserved and used for all time entire as a 
public park, and for no other purpose, to which all persons shall have 
free access; and said city shall have authority to adopt all proper rules 
and regulations for the improvement and care of said park; and upon 
the failure of any of said conditions the said island shall revert to the 
United States, to be disposed of by future legislation only. Niobrara 
Island, an island in the Niobrara River, near Niobrara, and now a part 
of the Sioux Reservation, is hereby donated to the said city of Niobrara: 
Provided further, That the said city of Niobrara shall formally accept 
the same within one year from the passage of this act, upon the express 
condition that the same shall be preserved and used for all time entire 
as a public park, and for no other purpose, to which all persons shall 
have free access; and said city shall have authority to adopt all proper 
rules and regulations for the improvement and care of said park; and 
upon the failure of any of said conditions the said island shall revert 
to the United States, to be disposed of by future legislation only : And 
provided further, That if any full or mixed blood Indian of the Sioux 
Nation shall have located upon Farm Island, American Island, or Nio- 
brara Island before the date of the passage of this act, it shall be the 
duty of the Secretary of the Interior, within three months from the time 
this act shall have taken effect, to cause all improvements made by 
any such Indian so located' upon either of said islands, and all damage 
that may accrue to him by a removal therefrom, to be appraised, and 
upon the payment of the sum so determined, within six months after 
notice thereof by the city to which the island is herein donated to such 
Indian, said Indian shall be required to remove from said island, and 
shall be entitled to select instead of such location his allotment accord- 
ing to the provisions of this act upon any of the reservations herein 
established; or upon any land opened to settlement by this act not 
already located upon. 

Sec. 22. That all money accruing from the disposal of lands in con- 
formity with this act shall be paid into the Treasury of the United 
States and be applied solely as follows : First, to the reimbursement of 
the United States for all necessary actual expenditures contemplated 
and provided for under the provisions of this act, and the creation of 
the permanent fund hereinbefore provided ; and after such reimburse- 
ment to the increase of said permanent fund for the purposes herein- 
before provided. 

Sec. 23. That all persons who, between the twenty- seventh day of 
February, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and the seventeenth day 
of April, eighteen hundred and eighty five, in good faith, entered upon 
or made settlements with intent to enter the same under the homestead 
or preemption laws of the United States upon any part of the Great 
Sioux Reservation lying east of the Missouri River, and known as the 
Crow Creek and Winnebago Reservation, which by the President's 
proclamation of date February twenty- seventh, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-five, was declared to be open to settlement, and not included in 
the new reservation established by section six of this act, and who, being 
otherwise legally entitled to make such entries, located or attempted to 
locate thereon homestead, preemption, or town-site claims, by actual 
settlement and improvement of any portion of such land, shall, for a 
period of ninety days after the proclamation of the President required 
to be made by this act, have a right to re enter upon said claims and 



200 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

procure title thereto under the homestead or preemption laws of the 
[Jnited States, and complete the same as required therein, and their 
said claims shall, for such time, have a preference over later entries; 
and when they shall have in other respects shown themselves entitled 
and shall have complied with the law regulating such entries, and as to 
homesteads, with the special provisions of this act, they shall be entitled 
to have said lands, and patents therefor shall be issued as in like cases : 
Provided, That preemption claimants shall reside on their lands the 
same length of time before procuring title as homestead claimants 
under this act. The price to be paid for town- site entries shall be such 
as is required by law in other cases, and shall be paid into the general 
fund provided for by this act. 

Sec. 24. That sections sixteen and thirty-six of each township of the 
lands open to settlement under the provisions of this act, whether sur- 
veyed or unsurveyed, are hereby reserved for the use and benefit of 
the public schools, as provided by the act organizing the Territory of 
Dakota; and whether surveyed or unsurveyed, said sections shall not 
be subject to claim, settlement, or entry under the provision of this act 
or any of the land laws of the United States: Provided, however, That 
the United States shall pay to said Indians, out of any moneys in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one dollar and twenty- 
five cents per acre for all lands reserved under the provisions of this 
section. 

Sec. 25. That there is hereby appropriated the sum of one hundred 
thousand dollars, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise ap- 
propriated, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be applied and 
used towards surveying the lands herein described as being opened for 
settlement, said sum to be immediately available; which sum shall not 
be deducted from the proceeds of lands disposed of under this act. 

Sec. 26. That all expenses for the surveying, platting, and disposal 
of the lands open to settlement under this act shall be borne by the 
United States, and not deducted from the proceeds of said lands. 

Sec. 27. That the sum of twenty eight thousand two hundred dollars, 
or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and hereby is, appropriated 
out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to enable 
the Secretary of the Interior to pay to such individual Indians of the 
Red Cloud and Red Leaf bands of Sioux as he shall ascertain to have 
been deprived by the authority of the United States of ponies in the 
year eighteen hundred and seventy-six, at the rate of forty dollars 
for each pony; and he is hereby authorized to employ such agent or 
agents as he may deem necessary in ascertaining such facts as will 
enable him to carry out this provision, and to pay them therefor such 
sums as shall be deemed by him fair and just compensation: Provided, 
That the sum paid to each individual Indian under this provision shall 
be taken and accepted, by such Indian in full compensation for all loss 
sustained by such Indian in consequence of the taking from him of 
ponies as aforesaid: And provided further, That if any Indian entitled 
to such compensation shall have deceased, the sum to which such Indian 
would be entitled shall be paid to his heirs at law, according to the 
laws of the Territory of Dakota. 

Sec. 28. That this act shall take effect, only, upon the acceptance 
thereof and consent thereto by the different bands of the Sioux Nation 
of Indians, in manner and form prescribed by the twelfth article of the 
treaty between the United States and said Sioux Indians concluded 
April twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty eight, which said 
acceptance and consent, shall be made known by proclamation by the 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 201 

President of the United States, upon satisfactory proof presented to 
bini that the same bas been obtained in the manner and form required, 
by said twelfth article of said treaty; which proof shall be presented 
to him within one year from the passage of this act; and upon failure 
of such proof and proclamation this act becomes of no effect and null 
and void. 

Sec. 29. That there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of twenty-live thousand 
dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, which sum shall be 
expended, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for pro- 
curing the assent of the Sioux Indians to this act provided in section 
twenty-seven. 

Sec. 30. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provi- 
sions of this act are hereby repealed. 

Approved, March 2, 1889. (25 Stat., 888.) 



[No. 34.] 

By the President of the United States of America. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas it is provided in the act of Congress, approved March sec- 
ond, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, entitled "An act to divide a 
portion of the reservation of the Sioux Nation of Indians in Dakota 
into separate reservations and to secure the relinquishment of the In- 
dian title to the remainder, and for other purposes,' 7 "that this act shall 
take effect only upon the acceptance thereof and consent thereto by 
the different bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians, in manner and form 
prescribed by the twelfth article of the treaty between the United States 
and said Sioux Indians concluded April twenty-ninth, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty-eight, which said acceptance and consent shall be made 
known by proclamation by the President of the United States, upon 
satisfactory proof presented to him that the same has been obtained 
m the manner and form required by said twelfth article of said treaty; 
which proof shall be presented to him within one year from the pas- 
sage of this act; and upon failure of such proof and proclamation this 
act becomes of no effect and null and void;" and 

Whereas satisfactory proof has been presented to me that the accept- 
ance of and consent to the provisions of the said act by the different 
bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians have been obtained in manner 
and form as therein required: 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, 
by virtue of the power in me vested, do hereby make known and pro- 
claim the acceptance of said act by the different bands of the Sioux 
Nation of Indians, and the consent thereto by them as required by the 
act, and said act is hereby declared to be in full force and effect, sub- 
ject to all the provisions, conditions, limitations, and restrictions therein 
contained. 

All persons will take notice of the provisions of said act and of the 
conditions, limitations, and restrictions therein contained, and be gov- 
erned accordingly. 

I furthermore notify all persons to particularly observe that by said 
act certain tracts or portions of the Great Reservation of the Sioux 



202 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Nation in the Territory of Dakota, as described by metes and bounds, 
are set apart as separate and permanent reservations for the Indians 
receiving rations and annuities at the respective agencies therein named ; 

That any Indian receiving and entitled to rations and annuities at 
either of the agencies mentioned in this act at the time the same shall 
take effect, but residing upon any portion of said Great Reservation not 
included in either ot the separate reservations herein established, may, 
at his option, within one year from the time when this act shall take 
effect and within one year after he has been notified of his said right 
of option in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior shall direct, 
by recording his election with the proper agent at the agency to which 
he belongs, have the allotment to which he would be otherwise entitled 
on one of said separate reservations upon the land where such Indian 
may then reside. 

That each member of the Ponca tribe of Indians now occupying a 
part of the old Ponca Reservation, within the limits of the said Great 
Sioux Reservation, shall be entitled to allotments upon said old Ponca 
Reservation, in quantities as therein set forth, and that when allotments 
to the Ponca tribe of Indians, and to such other Indians as allotments 
are provided for by this act, shall have been made upon that portion of 
said reservation which is described in the act entitled "An act to extend 
the northern boundary of the State of Nebraska," approved March 
twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, the President shall, 
in pursuance of said act, declare that the Indian title is extinguished 
to all lands described in said act not so allotted hereunder, and there- 
upon all of said land not so allotted and included in said act of March 
twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, shall be open to settle- 
ment as provided in this act; 

That protection is guaranteed to such Indians as may have taken 
allotments either within or without the said separate reservations under 
the provisions of the treaty with the great Sioux Nation concluded 
April twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight; and that pro- 
vision is made in said act for the release of all title on the part of said 
Indians receiving rations and annuities on each separate reservation to 
the lands described in each of the other separate reservations, and to 
confirm in the Indians entitled to receive rations at each of said sepa- 
rate reservations, respectively, to their separate and exclusive use and 
benefit, all the title and interest of every name and nature secured to 
the different bands of the Sioux Nation by said treaty of April twenty- 
ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight; and that said release shall 
not affect the title of any individual Indian to his separate allotment 
of land not iucluded in any of said separate reservations, nor any 
agreement heretofore made with the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul 
Railroad Company or the Dakota Central Railroad Company respect- 
ing certain lands for right of way, station grounds, etc., regarding which 
certain prior rights and privileges are reserved to and for the use of 
said railroad companies, respectively, upon the terms and conditions 
set forth in said act; 

That it is therein provided that if any land in said Great Sioux Reser- 
vation is occupied and used by any religious society at the date of said 
act for the purpose of missionary or educational work among the 
Indians, whether situate outside of or within the limits of any of the 
separate reservations, the same, not exceeding one hundred and sixty 
acres in any one tract, shall be granted to said society for the purposes 
and upon the terms and conditions therein named, and 

Subject to all the conditions and limitations in said act contained, it 
is therein provided that all the lands in the Great Sioux Reservation 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 203 

outside of the separate reservations described in said act, except 
American Island, Farm Island, and Niobrara Island, regarding which 
islands special provisions are therein made, and sections sixteen and 
thi^-six in each township thereof (which are reserved for school pur- 
poses), shall be disposed of by the United States, upon the terms, at 
the price, and in the manner therein set forth, to actual settlers only, 
under the provisions of the homestead law (except section two thousand 
three hundred and one thereof) and under the law relating to town sites. 

That section twenty-three of said act provides " that all persons who, 
between the twenty-seventh day of February, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-five, and the seventeenth day of April, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-five, in good faith, entered upon or made settlements with intent 
to enter the same under the homestead or preemption laws of the 
United States upon any part of the Great Sioux Reservation lying east 
of the Missouri River, and known as the Crow Creek and Winnebago 
Reservation, which, by the President's proclamation of date February 
twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, was declared to be 
open to settlement, and not included in the new reservation established 
by section six of this act, and who, being otherwise legally entitled to 
make such entries, located or attempted to locate thereon homestead, 
preemption, or town-site claims by actual settlement and improvement 
of any portion of such lands, shall, for a period of ninety days after 
the proclamation of the President required to be made by this act, have 
a right to reenter upon said claims and procure title thereto under the 
homestead or preemption laws of the United States, and complete the 
same as required therein, and their said claims shall, for such time, 
have a preference over later entries; and when they shall have in other 
respects shown themselves entitled and shall have complied with the 
law regulating such entries, and, as to homesteads, with the special 
provisions of this act, they shall be entitled to have said lands, and 
patents therefor shall be issued as in like cases, provided that preemp- 
tion claimants shall reside on their lands the same length of time before 
procuring title as homestead claimants under this act. The price to be 
paid for town-site entries shall be such as is required by law in other 
cases and shall be paid into the general fund provided for by this act." 

It is, furthermore, hereby made known that there has been and is 
hereby reserved from entry or settlement that tract of land now occu- 
pied by the agency and school buildings at the Lower Brule Agency, 
to wit : 

The west half of the southwest quarter of section twenty- four; the 
east half of the southeast quarter of section twenty-three ; the west half 
of the northwest, quarter of section twenty-five; the east half of the 
northeast quarter of section twenty-six, and the northwest fractional 
quarter of the southeast quarter of section twenty-six; all in township 
one hundred and four, north of range seventy-two, west of the fifth 
principal meridian ; 

That there is also reserved as aforesaid the following-described tract 
within which the Cheyenne River Ageucy school and certain other 
buildings are located, to wit: Commencing at a point in the center of 
the main channel of the Missouri River opposite Deep Creek, about 
three miles south of Cheyenne River; thence due west five andone-half 
miles; thence due north to Cheyenne River; thence down said river to 
the center of the main channel thereof to a point in the center of the 
Missouri River due east or opposite the mouth of said Cheyenne River; 
thence down the center of the main channel of the Missouri River to the 
place of beginning: 

That, in pursuance of the provisions contained in section one of said 



204 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

act, the tract of land situate in the State of Nebraska and described 
in said act as follows, to wit: "Beginning at a point on the boundary 
line between the State of Nebraska and the Territory of Dakota, where 
the range line between ranges forty-four and forty-five west of the sixth 
principal meridian, in the Territory of Dakota, intersects said bound- 
ary line; thence east along said boundary line five miles; thence due 
south five miles; thence due west ten miles; thence due north to said 
boundary line; thence due east along said boundary line to the place 
of beginning," same is continued in a state of reservation so long as it 
may be needed for the use and protection of the Indians receiving rations 
and annuities at the Pine Ridge Agency. 

Warning is hereby also expressly given to all persons not to enter or 
make settlement upon any of the tracts of land specially reserved by 
the terms of said act or by this proclamation, or any portion of any 
tracts of land to which any individual member of either of the bands of 
the Great Sioux Nation or the Ponca tribe of Indians shall have a pref- 
erence right under the provisions of said act, and, farther, to in no wise 
interfere with the occupancy of any of said tracts by any of said Indians, 
or in any manner to disturb, molest, or prevent the peaceful possession 
of said tracts by them. 

The surveys required to be made of the lands to be restored to the 
public domain under the provisions of the said act and as in this proc- 
lamation set forth will be commenced and executed as early as possible. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this tenth day of February, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety, and of the 
Independence of the United States the one hundred and fourteenth. 

[seal.] Benj. Harrison. 

By the President : 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



[No. 35.] 

DISPOSAL OF OKLAHOMA LANDS. 

AN ACT making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the In- 
dian Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes, 
for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninetj'', and for other 
purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, 

^ tfc ^r w ^P ^ "7P 

SEMINOLE LANDS. 

Sec. 12. That the sum of one million nine hundred and twelve thou- 
sand nine hundred and forty-two dollars and two cents be, and the 
same hereby is, appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, to pay in full the Seminole Nation of Indians 
for all the right, title, interest, and claim which said nation of Indians 
may have in and to certain lands ceded by article three of the treaty 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 205 

between the United States and said nation of Indians which was con- 
cluded June fourteenth, eighteen hundred ana sixty-six, and proclaimed 
August sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and which land was 
then estimated to contain two million one hundred and sixty-nine thou- 
sand and eighty acres, but which is now, after survey, ascertained to 
contain two million thirty-seven thousand four hundred and fourteen 
and sixty-two hundredths acres, said sum of money to be paid as fol- 
lows: One million live hundred thousand dollars to remain in the Treas- 
ury of the United States to the credit of said nation of Indians and to 
bear interest at the rate of five per centum per annum from July first, 
eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, said interest to be paid semi annu- 
ally to the treasurer of said nation, and the sum of four hundred and 
twelve thousand nine hundred and forty-two dollars and twenty cents, 
to be paid to such person or persons as shall be duly authorized by the 
laws of said nation to receive the same, at such times and in such sums 
as shall be directed aud required by the legislative authority of said 
nation, to be immediately available; this appropriation to become oper- 
ative upon the execution of the duly appointed delegates of said nation, 
specially empowered so to do, of a release and conveyance to the United 
States of all the right, title, interest, and claim of said nation of Indians 
in and to said lands, in manner and form satisfactory to the President 
of the United States, and said release and conveyance, when fully 
executed and delivered, shall operate to extinguish all claims of every 
kind and character of said Seminole Nation of Indians in and to the 
tract of country to which said release and conveyance shall apply; but 
such release, conveyance, and extinguishment shall not inure to the 
benefit of or cause to vest in any railroad company any right, title, or 
interest whatever in or to any of said lands, and all laws and parts of 
laws so far as they conflict with the foregoing are hereby repealed, and 
all grant&or pretended grants of said lands or any interest or right 
therein now existing in or on behalf of any railroad company, except 
rights of way and depot grounds, are hereby declared to be forever 
forfeited for breach of condition. 

Sec. 13. That the lands acquired by the United States under said 
agreement shall be a part of the public domain, to be disposed of only as 
herein provided, and sections sixteen and thirty-six of each township, 
whether surveyed or unsurveyed, are hereby reserved for the use and 
benefit of the public schools, to be established within the limits of said 
lands under such conditions and regulations as may be hereafter enacted 
by Congress. 

That the lands acquired by conveyance from the Seminole Indians 
hereunder, except the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections, shall be dis- 
posed of to actual settlers under the homestead laws only, except as 
herein otherwise provided (except that section two thousand three hun- 
dred and one of the Kevised Statutes shall not apply) : And provided 
further, That any person who having attempted to, but for any cause, 
failed to secure a title in fee to a homestead under existing law, or who 
made entry under what is known as the commuted provision of the 
homestead law, shall be qualified to make a homestead entry upon said 
lands: And provided further, That the rights of honorably discharged 
Union soldiers and sailors in the late civil war as defined and described 
in sections twenty-three hundred and four aud twenty-three hundred 
and five of the Revised Statutes shall not be abridged: And provided 
further, That each entry shall be in square form as near as practicable, 
and no person be permitted to enter more than one quarter section 
thereof; but until said lands are open for settlement by proclamation 



206 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

of the President no person shall be permitted to enter npon and occupy 
the same, and no person violating this provision shall ever be permitted 
to enter any of said lands or acquire any right thereto. 

The Secretary of the Interior may, after said proclamation and not 
before, permit entry of said lands for town sites, under sections twenty- 
three hundred and eighty-seven and twenty-three hundred and eighty- 
eight of the Eevised Statutes, but no such entry shall embrace more 
than one half section of land. 

That all the foregoing provisions with reference to lands to be 
acquired from the Seminole Indians, including the provisions pertain- 
ing to forfeiture, shall apply to and regulate the disposal of the lands 
acquired from the Muscogee or Creek Indians by articles of cession 
and agreement made and concluded at the city of Washington on the 
nineteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred 
and eighty-niu e. 

Sec. 14. The President is hereby authorized to appoint three commis- 
sioners, not more than two of whom shall be members of the same 
political party, to negotiate with the Cherokee Indians and with all other 
Indians owning or claiming lands lying west of the ninety-sixth degree 
of longitude in the Indian Territory for the cession to the United States 
of all their title, cl,aim, or interest of every kind or character in and to 
said lands, and any and all agreements resulting from such negotiations 
shall be reported to the President and by him to Congress at its next 
session and to the council or councils of the nation or nations, tribe or 
tribes, agreeing to the same, for ratification, and for this purpose the 
sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, or as much thereof as maybe neces- 
sary, is hereby appropriated, to be immediately available: Provided, 
That said commission is further authorized to submit to the Cherokee 
Nation the proposition that said nation shall cede to the United States 
in the manner and with the effect aforesaid, all the rights of said nation 
in said lands upon the same terms as to payment as is provided in the 
agreement made with the Creek Indians of date January nineteenth, 
eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and ratified by the present Congress ; 
and if said Cherokee Nation shall accept, and by act of its legislative 
authority duly passed, ratify the same, the said lands shall thereupon 
become a part of the public domain for the purpose of such disposition 
as is herein provided, and the President is authorized as soon thereafter 
as he may deem advisable, by proclamation open said lands to settlement 
in the same manner and to the same effect as in this act provided con- 
cerning the lands acquired from said Creek Indians, but until said 
lands are opened for settlement by proclamation of the President, no 
person shall be permitted to enter upon and occupy the same, and no 
person violating this provision shall be permitted to enter any of said 
lands or acquire any right thereto. 

Sec. 15. That the President may whenever he deems it necessary 
create not to exceed two land districts embracing the lands which he 
may open to settlement by proclamation as hereinbefore provided, and 
he is empowered to locate land offices for the same appointing thereto 
in conformity to existing law registers and receivers and for the pur- 
pose of carrying out this provision five thousand dollars or so much 
thereof as may be necessary is hereby appropriated. 

Approved, March 2, 1889. (25 Stat,, 1001.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 207 

[No. 30.] 
By the President of the United States of America. 
A PROCLAMATION 

Whereas, pursuant to section eight, of the act of Congress approved 
March third, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, entitled "An act making- 
appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian 
Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian 
tribes, for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty- 
six, and for other purposes," certain articles of cession and agreement 
were made and concluded at the city of Washington on the nineteenth 
day of January, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and eighty- 
nine, by and between the United States of America and the Muscogee 
(or Creek) Nation of Indians, whereby the said Muscogee (or Creek) 
Nation of Indians, for the consideration therein mentioned, ceded and 
granted to the United States, without reservation or condition, full and 
complete title to the entire western half of the domain of the said Mus- 
cogee (or Creek) Nation, in the Indian Territory, lying west of the divi- 
sion line surveyed and established under the treaty with said nation, 
dated the fourteenth day of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and 
also granted and released to the United States all and every claim, 
estate, right, or interest of any and every description in and to any and 
all land and territory whatever, except so much of the former domain 
of said Muscogee (or Creek) Nation as lies east of said line of division 
surveyed and established as aforesaid, and then used and occupied as 
the home of said nation, and which articles of cession and agreement 
were duly accepted, ratified, and confirmed by said Muscogee (or Creek) 
Nation of Indians by act of its council, approved on the thirty- first day 
of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and by the United States 
by act of Congress approved March first, eighteen hundred and eighty- 
nine, and 

Whereas, by section twelve of the act entitled "An act making ap- 
propriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian 
Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian 
tribes, for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, 
and for other purposes," approved March second, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-nine, a sum of money was appropriated to pay in full the Semi- 
nole Nation of Indians for all the right, title, interest, and claim which 
said nation of Indians might have in and to certain lands ceded by 
article three of the treaty between the United States and said nation 
of Indians, concluded June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, 
and proclaimed August sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, said 
appropriation to become operative upon the execution by the duly 
appointed delegates of said nation, specially empowered to do so, of a 
release and conveyance to the United States of all right, title, interest, 
and claim of said nation of Indians, in and to said lands, in manner 
and form satisfactory to the President of the United States, and 

Whereas said release and conveyance, bearing date the sixteenth day 
of March, eighteen hundred and eighty nine, has been duly and fully 
executed, approved, and delivered ; and 

Whereas section thirteen of the act last aforesaid, relating to said 
lands, provides as follows: 

Sec. 13. That the lands acquired by the United States under said agreement shall 
be a part of the public domain, to be disposed of only as herein provided, and sec- 
tions sixteen and thirty-six of each township, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, are 
hereby reserved for the use and benefit of the public schools to be established within 



208 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the limits of said lands under such conditions and regulations as may be hereafter 
enacted by Cougress. 

That the lands acquired by conveyance from the Semiuole Indians hereunder, except 
the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections, shall be disposed of to actual settlers under 
the homestead laws only, except as herein otherwise provided (except that section 
two thousand thre« hundred and one of the Revised Statutes shall not apply) : And 
provided further, That any person who having attempted to, but for any cause failed 
to secure a title in fee to a homestead under existing laws or who made entry under 
what is known as the commuted provision of the homestead laws shall be qualified 
to make a homestead entry upon said lauds : And provided further, That the rights of 
honorably discharged Union soldiers aud sailors in the late civil war as defined and 
described in sections twenty-three hundred and four and twenty-three hundred and 
five of the Revised Statutes shall not be abridged: And provided further, That each 
entry shall be in square form as nearly as practicable, and no person be permitted to 
enter more than one-quarter section thereof, but until said lands are opened for set- 
tlement by proclamation of the President, no person shall be permitted to enter upon 
and occupy the same, and no person violating this provision shall ever be permitted 
to enter auy of said lauds or acquire any right thereto. 

The Secretary of the Interior may, after said proclamation and not before, permit 
entry of said lands for town-sites, under sections twenty-three hundred and eighty- 
seven and twenty-three hundred and eighty-eight, of the Revised Statutes, but no 
such entry shall embrace more than one half section of land. 

That all the foregoing provisions with reference to lands to be acquired from the 
Seminole Indiaus, including the provisions pertaining to forfeiture, shall apply to 
and regulate the disposal of the lands acquired from the Muscogee or Creek Indians 
by articles of cession and agreement made and concluded at the city of Washington, 
on the nineteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and 
eighty-nine. 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States, by virtue of the power in ine vested by said act of Congress, 
approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, aforesaid, 
do hereby declare and make known that so much of the lands, as 
aforesaid, acquired from or conveyed by the Muscogee (or Creek) Nation 
of Indians and from or by the Seminole Nation of Indians, respec- 
tively, as is contained within the following described boundaries, viz: 
Beginning at a point where the degree of longitude ninety-eight west 
from Greenwich, as surveyed in the years eighteen hundred and fifty- 
eight and eighteen hundred and seventy-one, intersects the Canadian 
Biver; thence north along and with the said degree to a point where 
the same intersects the Cimarron Biver ; thence up said river, along the 
right bank thereof,.to a point where the same is intersected by the south 
line of what is known as the Cherokee lands lying west of the Arkansas 
Biver or as the " Cherokee Outlet,' 7 said line being the north line of the 
lands ceded by the Muscogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians to the United 
States by the treaty of June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six; 
thence east along said line to a point where the same intersects the 
west line of the lands set apart as a reservation for the Pawnee Indians 
by act of Congress approved April tenth, eighteen hundred and sev- 
enty-six, being the range line between ranges four and five east of 
the Indian meridian ; thence south on said line to a point where the 
same intersects the middle of the main channel of the Cimarron Biver; 
thence up said river, along the middle of the main channel thereof, to 
a point where the same intersects the range line between range one 
east and range one west (being the Indian merfdian), which line forms 
the western boundary of the reservation set apart, respectively, for the 
Iowa and Kickapoo Indians by executive orders dated, respectively, 
August fifteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-three; thence south 
along said range line or meridian to a point where the same intersects 
the right bank of the North Fork of the Canadian Biver; thence up 
said river, along the right bank thereof, to the point where the same is 
intersected by the west line of the reservation occupied by the Citizen 
Band of Pottawatomies, and the Absentee Shawnee Indians, set apart 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 209 

under the provisions of the treaty of February twenty-seven, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-seven, between the United States and the Pottawato- 
mie tribe of Indians and referred to in the Act of Congress approved May 
twenty-three, eighteen hundred and seventy- two; thence south along 
the said west line of the aforesaid reservation to a point where the same 
intersects the middle of the main channel of the Canadian River; 
thence up the said river, along the middle of the main channel thereof, 
to a point opposite to the place of beginning and thence north to the 
place of beginning (saving and excepting one acre of land in square 
form in the northwest corner of section nine, in township sixteen north, 
range two west, of the Indian Meridian in Indian Territory, and also 
one acre of land in the southeast corner of the northwest quarter of 
section fifteen, township sixteen north, range seven west, of the Indian 
Meridian in the Indian Territory ; (which last described two acres are 
hereby reserved for Government use and control), will at and after the 
hour of twelve o'clock, noon, of the twenty-second day of April next, 
and not before, be open for settlement, under the terms of and subject 
to, all the conditions, limitations, and restrictions contained in said act 
of Congress approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, 
and the laws of the United States applicable thereto. 

And it is hereby expressly declared and made known that no other 
parts or portions of the lands embraced within the Indian Territory 
than those herein specifically described, and declared to be open to set- 
tlement at the time above named and fixed, are to be considered as 
open to settlement under this proclamation or the act of March second, 
eighteen hundred and eighty-nine aforesaid ; and 

Warning, is hereby again expressly given that no person entering 
upon and occupying said lands before said hour of twelve o'clock, noon, 
of the Twenty-second day of April, A. D. eighteen hundred and eighty- 
nine, hereinbefore fixed, will ever be permitted to enter any of said 
lands or acquire any rights thereto, and that the officers of the United 
States will be required to strictly enforce the provisions of the Act of 
Congress to the above effect. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this Twenty-third day of March, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand, eight hundred and eighty-nine, and 
of the independence of the United States the one hundred and 
thirteenth. 

[seal.) Benj. Harrison. 

By the President, 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



[No. 37.] 

DISPOSAL OF OKLAHOMA LANDS. 

AN ACT to provide a temporary government for the Territory of Oklahoma, to enlarge 
the jurisdiction of the United States Court in the Indian Territory, and for other 
purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled: 

* # * # # # # 

Sec. 18. That sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in each town- 
ship in said Territory shall be, and the same are hereby, reserved for 
3073 14 



210 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the purpose of being applied to the public schools in the State or 
States hereafter to be erected out of the same. In all cases where 
sections sixteen and thirty-six, or either of them, are occupied by actual 
settlers prior to survey thereof, the county commissioners of the counties 
in which such sections are so occupied are authorized to locate other 
lands to an equal amount, in sections or fractional sections, as the case 
may be, within their respective counties, in lieu of the sections so 
occupied. 

All the lands embraced in that portion of the Territory of Oklahoma 
heretofore known as the Public Land Strip shall be open to settlement 
under the provisions of the homestead laws of the United States, 
except section twenty- three hundred and one of the Revised Statutes, 
which shall not apply; but all actual and bona fide settlers upon and 
occupants of the lands in said Public Land Strip at the time of the 
passage of this act shall be entitled to have preference to and hold 
the lands upon which they have settled under the homestead laws of 
the United States, by virtue of their settlement and occupancy of said 
lands, and they shall be credited with the time they have actually occu- 
pied their homesteads, respectively, not exceeding two years, on the 
time required under said laws to perfect title as homestead settlers. 

The lands within said Territory of Oklahoma, acquired by cession of 
the Muscogee (or Oreek) Nation of Indians, confirmed by act of Con- 
gress approved March first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and 
also the lands acquired in pursuance of an agreement with the Seminole 
Nation of Indians by re-lease and conveyance, dated March sixteenth, 
eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, which may hereafter be open to set- 
tlement, shall be disposed of under the provisions of sections twelve," 
thirteen, and fourteen of the "Act making appropriations for the cur- 
rent and contingent expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfill- 
ing treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending 
June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and for other purposes," 
approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and under 
section two of an "Act to ratify and confirm an agreement with the 
Muscogee (or Oreek) Nation of Indians in the Indian Territory, and for 
other purposes," approved March first, eighteen hundred and eighty- 
nine: Provided, hoivever, That each settler under and in accordance 
with the pro visions of said acts shall, before receiving a patent for his 
homestead on the land hereafter opened to settlement as aforesaid, pay 
to the United States for the lands so taken by him, in addition to the 
fees provided by law, the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents per 
acre. 

Whenever any of the other lands within the Territory of Oklahoma, 
now occupied by any Indian tribe, shall by operation of law or procla- 
mation of the President of the United States be open to settlement, 
they shall be disposed of to actual settlers only, under the provisions 
of the homestead law, except section twenty-three hundred and one of 
the Revised Statutes of the United States, which shall not apply : Pro- 
vided, however, That each settler, under and in accordance with the pro- 
visions of said homestead laws, shall before receiving a patent for his 
homestead pay to the United States for the land so taken by him, in 
addition to the fees provided by law, a sum per acre equal to the amount 
which has been or may be paid by the United States to obtain a relin- 
quishment of the Indian title or interest therein, but in no case shall 
such payment be less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 
The rights of honorably discharged soldiers and sailors in the late civil 
war, as defined and described in sections twenty-three hundred and four 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 211 

and twenty-three hundred and five of the Eevised Statutes of the United 
States, shall not be abridged except as to such payment. All tracts of 
land in Oklahoma Territory which have been set apart for school pur- 
poses, to educational societies or missionary boards at work among the 
Indians, shall not be open for settlement, but are hereby granted to the 
respective educational societies or missionary boards for whose use 
the same has been set apart. No part of the land embraced within the 
Territory hereby created shall inure to the use and benefit of any rail- 
road corporation, except the rights of way and land for stations hereto- 
fore granted to certain railroad corporations. Nor shall any provision 
of this act or any act of any officer of the United States, done or per- 
formed under the provisions of this act or otherwise, invest any cor- 
poration owning or operating any railroad in the Indian Territory or 
Territory created by this act, with any land or any right to any land 
in either of said Territories, and this act shall not apply to or affect 
any land which, upon any condition on becoming a part of the public 
domain, would inure to the benefit of, or become the property of, any 
railroad corporation. 

Sec. 19. That the portion of the Territory of Oklahoma heretofore 
known as the Public Land Strip is hereby declared a public land dis- 
trict, and the President of the United States is hereby empowered to 
locate a land office in said district, at such a place as he shall select, 
and to appoint in conformity with existing law a register and receiver 
of said land office. He may also, whenever he shall deem it necessary, 
establish another additional land district within said Territory, locate 
a land office therein, and in like manner appoint a register and 
receiver thereof. And the Commissioner of the General Land Office 
shall, when directed by the President, cause the lands within the Ter- 
ritory to be properly surveyed and subdivided where the same has not 
already been done. 

Sec. 20. That the procedure in applications, entries, contests, and 
adjudications in the Territory of Oklahoma shall be in form and man- 
ner prescribed under the homestead laws of the United States, and 
the general principles and provisions of the homestead laws, except as 
modified by the provisions of this act and the acts of Congress approved 
March first and second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, heretofore 
mentioned, shall be applicable to all entries made in said Territory, but 
no patent shall be issued to any person who is not a citizen of the 
United States at the time of making final proof. 

All persons who shall settle on land in said Territory under the pro- 
visions of the homestead laws of the United States and of this act 
shall be required to select the same in square form as nearly as may be; 
and no person who shall at the time be seized in fee simple of a hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land in any State or Territory shall hereafter 
be entitled to enter land in said Territory of Oklahoma. The pro- 
visions of sections twenty- three hundred and four and twenty -three 
hundred and five of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall, 
except so far as modified by this act, apply to all homestead settle- 
ments in said Territory. 

Sec. 21. That any person entitled by law to take a homestead in said 
Territory of Oklahoma, who has already located and filed upon or shall 
hereafter locate and file upon a homestead within the limits described 
in the President's proclamation of April first, eighteen hundred and 
eighty-nine, and under and in pursuance of the laws applicable to the 
settlement of the lands opened for settlement by such proclamation, 
and who has complied with all the laws relating to such homestead 



212 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

settlement, may receive a patent therefor at the expiration of twelve 
months from date of locating npon said homestead upon payment to the 
United States of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for land em- 
braced in such homestead. 

Sec. 22. That the provisions of title thirty-two, chapter eight, of the 
Kevised Statutes of the United States, relating to " reservation and 
sale of town sites on the public lands," shall apply to the lands open or 
to be opened to settlement in the Territory of Oklahoma, except those 
opened to settlement by the proclamation of the President on the 
tweuty- second day of April, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine : Provided, 
That hereafter all surveys for town sites in said Territory shall contain 
reservations for parks (of substantially equal area if more than one park) 
and for schools and other public purposes, embracing in the aggregate 
not less than ten nor more than twenty acres; and patents for such res- 
ervations, to be maintained for such purposes, shall be issued to the 
towns respectively when organized as municipalities : Provided further, 
That, in case any lands in said Territory of Oklahoma, which may be 
occupied and filed upon as a homestead, under the provisions of law 
applicable to said Territory, by a person who is entitled to perfect his 
title thereto under such laws, are required for town- site purposes, it 
shall be lawful for such person to apply to the Secretary of the Interior 
to purchase the lands embraced in said homestead or any part thereof 
for town-site purposes. He shall file with the application a plat of such 
proposed town site, and if such plat shall be approved by the Secretary 
of the Interior he shall issue a patent to such person for land embraced 
in said town site, upon the payment of the sum of ten dollars per acre, 
for all the lands embraced in such town site, except the lands to be 
donated and maintained for public purposes as provided in this section. 
And the sums so received by the Secretary of the Interior shall be paid 
over to the proper authorities of the municipalities when organized, to 
be used by them for school purposes only. 

Sec. 23. That there shall be reserved public highways four rods wide 
between each section of land in said Territory, the section lines being 
the center of said highways; but no deduction shall be made, where 
cash payments are provided for, in the amount to be paid for each quar- 
ter section of land by reason of such reservation. But if the said 
highways shall be vacated by any competent authority the title to the 
respective strips shall inure to the then owner of the tract of which it 
formed a part by the original survey. 

Sec. 24. That it shall be unlawful for any person, for himself or any 
company, association, or corporation, to directly or indirectly procure 
any person to settle upon any lands open to settlement in the Territory 
of Oklahoma with intent thereafter of acquiring title thereto ; and any 
title thus acquired shall be void; and the parties to such fraudulent 
settlement shall severally be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be pun- 
ished, upon indictment, by imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, 
or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both such fine 
and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 25. That inasmuch as there is a controversy between the United 
States and the State of Texas as to the ownership of what is known as 
Greer County, it is hereby expressly provided that this act shall not be 
construed to apply to said Greer County until the title to the same has 
been adjudicated and determined to be in the United States; and in 
order to provide for speedy and final judicial determination of the con- 
troversy aforesaid the Attorney- General of the United States is hereby 
authorized and directed to commence in the name and on behalf of the 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 213 

United States, and prosecute to a final determination, a proper suit in 
equity in the Supreme Court of the United States against the State of 
Texas, setting forth the title and claim of the United States to the tract 
of land lying between the North and South Forks of the Eed Eiver 
where the Indian Territory and the State of Texas adjoin, east of the 
one hundredth degree of longitude, and claimed by the State of Texas 
as within its boundary and a part of its land, and designated on its map 
as Greer County, in order that the rightful title to said land may be 
finally determined, and the court, on the trial of the case, may, in its 
discretion, so far as the ends of justice will warrant, consider any evi- 
dence heretofore taken and received by the Joint Boundary Commission 
under the- act of Congress approved January thirty-first, eighteen hun- 
dred and eighty- five; and said case shall be advanced on the docket of 
said court, and proceeded with to its conclusion as rapidly as the nature 
and circumstances of the case permit. 

Approved, May 2, 1890. (26 Stat., 81.) 



[No. 38.] 

MODIFIES LAWS RESPECTING AFFIDAVITS AND FINAL PROOFS IN 

LAND ENTRIES. 

AN ACT to amend section twenty-two hundred and ninety-four of the Revised Stat- 
utes of the United States, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section twenty-two hun- 
dred and ninety-four of the Kevised Statutes be, and the same is hereby, 
amended so that it will read as follows : 

Sec. 2294. In any case in which the applicant for the benefit of the 
homestead, preemption, timber-culture, or desert-land law is prevented, 
by reason of distance, bodily infirmity, or other good cause, from per- 
sonal attendance at the district land office, he or she may make the affi- 
davit required by law before any commissioner of the United States cir- 
cuit court or the clerk of a court of record for the county in which the 
land is situated, and transmit the same with the fee and commissions 
to the register and receiver. 

That the proof of settlement, residence, occupation, cultivation, irri- 
gation, or reclamation, the affidavit of non-alienation, the oath of alle- 
giance, and all other affidavits required to be made under the homestead, 
preeinpti on, timber-culture, and desert land laws maybe made before 
any commissioner of the United States circuit court or before the judge 
or clerk of any court of record of the county or parish in which the 
lands are situated; and the proof, affidavit, and oath, when so made 
and duly subscribed, shall have the same force and effect as if made 
before the register and receiver, when transmitted to them with the fee 
and commissions allowed and required by law. That if any witness 
making such proof or any applicant making any such affidavit or oath 
shall knowingly, wilfully, or corruptly swear falsely to any material 
matter contained in said proofs, affidavits, or oaths, he shall be deemed 
guilty of perjury, and shall be liable to the same pains and penalty as 
if he had sworn falsely before the register. That the fees for entries 



214 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

and for final proofs, when made before any other officer than the regis- 
ter and receiver, shall be as follows : 

For each affidavit, twenty-five cents. 

For each deposition of claimant or witness, when not prepared by the 
officer, twenty-five cents. 

For each deposition of claimant or witness prepared by the officer, 
one dollar. 

Any officer demanding or receiving a greater sum for such service 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, shall be punished 
for each offense by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars. 

Approved, May 26, 1890. (26 Stat., 121.) 



[No. 39.] 

RESERVOIR LANDS IN WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA MADE SUBJECT 
TO HOMESTEAD ENTRY. 

AN ACT to authorize the President of the United States to cause certain lands here- 
tofore withdrawn from market for reservoir purposes to be restored to the public 
domain subject to entry under the homestead law, with certain restrictions. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby restored 
to the public domain all the lands described in certain proclamations of 
the President of the United States, dated March twenty- second, eight- 
een hundred and eighty, Executive Document numbered eight hundred 
and fifty-nine; also, April fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-one, Exec- 
utive Document numbered eight hundred and sixty-eight; also, Feb- 
ruary twentieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, Executive Document 
numbered eight hundred and seventy-four, withdrawing and withhold- 
ing certain lands from market or entry and reserving the same to aid 
in the construction of certain reservoirs to be built at the headwaters 
of the Mississippi and Saint Croix rivers, in the States of Minnesota 
and Wisconsin, and of the Chippewa and Wisconsin rivers, in the State 
of Wisconsin, and that these lands, when so restored, shall be subject 
to homestead entry only. 

Sec. 2. That in all cases where any of the lands restored to the pub- 
lic domain by the first section of this act have heretofore been sold or 
disposed of by the proper officers of the United States under color of 
the public land laws, and the consideration received therefor is still 
retained by the Government, the title of the purchasers may be con- 
firmed if in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior justice requires 
it; but all the lands by said first section restored shall at all times 
remain subject to the right of the United States to construct and main- 
tain dams for the purpose of creating reservoirs in aid of navigation; 
and no claim or right to compensation shall accrue from the overflow- 
ing of said lands on account of the construction and maintenance of 
such dams and reservoirs. 

Sec. 3. That no rights of any kind shall attach by reason of settle- 
ment or squatting upon any of the lands hereinbefore described before 
the day on which such lauds shall be subject to homestead entry at the 
several land offices, and until said lands are opened for settlement no 
person shall enter upon and occupy the same, and any person violating 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 215 

this provision shall never be permitted to enter any of said lands or 
acquire any title thereto. This act shall take effect six months after 
its approval by the President of the United States. 
Approved, June 20, 1890. (20 Stat., 1G9.) 



[No. 40.] 

FORFEITED RAILROAD LANDS. 

AN ACT to forfeit certain lands heretofore granted for the purpose of aiding in the 
construction of railroads, aud for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby forfeited 
to the United States, and the United States hereby resumes the title 
thereto, all lands heretofore granted to any State or to any corporation 
to aid in the construction of a railroad opposite to and coterminous with 
the portion of any such railroad not now completed and in operation, 
for the construction or benefit of which such lands were granted; and 
all such lands are declared to be a part of the public domain : Provided, 
That this act shall not be construed as forfeiting the right of way or 
station grounds of any railroad company heretofore granted. 

Sec. 2. That all persons who, at the date of the passage of this act, 
are actual settlers in good faith on any of the lands hereby forfeited 
and are otherwise qualified, on making due claim on said lands under 
the homestead law within six months after the passage of this act, shall 
be entitled to a preference right to enter the same under the provisions 
of the homestead law and this act, and shall be regarded as such actual 
settlers from the date of actual settlement or occupation ; and any per- 
son who has not heretofore had the benefit of the homestead or pre- 
emption law, or who has failed from any cause to perfect the title to a 
tract of land heretofore entered by him under either of said laws, may 
make a second homestead entry under the provisions of this act. The 
Secretary of the Interior shall make such rules as will secure to such 
actual settlers these rights. 

Sec. 3. That in all cases where persons, being citizens of the United 
States or who have declared their intentions to become such, in accord- 
ance with the naturalization laws of the United States, are in posses- 
sion of any of the lands affected by any such grant and hereby resumed 
by and restored to the United States, under deed, written contract 
with, or license from the State or corporation to which such grant was 
made, or its assignees, executed prior to January first, eighteen hun- 
dred and eighty-eight, or where persons may have settled said lands 
with bona fide intent to secure title thereto by purchase from the State 
or corporation when earned by compliance with the conditions or 
requirements of the granting acts of Congress, they shall be entitled to 
purchase the same from the United States, in quantities not exceeding 
three hundred and twenty acres to any one such person, at the rate of 
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, at any time within two years 
from the passage of this act, and on making said payment to receive 
patents therefor, and where any such person in actual possession of any 
such lands and having improved the same prior to the first day of Jan- 
uary, eighteen hundred and ninety, under deed, written contract, or 



216 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

license as aforesaid, or his assignor, lias made partial or full payments 
to said railroad company prior to said date, on account of the purchase 
price of said lands from it, on proof of the amount of such payments 
he shall be entitled to have the same, to the extent and amount of one 
dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, if so much has been paid, aud 
not more, credited to him on account of and as part of the purchase 
price herein provided to be paid the United States for said lands, or 
such persons may elect to abandon their purchases and make claim on 
said lands under the homestead law and as provided in the preceding 
section of this act : Provided, That in all cases where parties, persons, 
or corporations, with the permission of such State or corporation or its 
assignees, are in the possession of and have made improvements upon 
any of the lands hereby resumed and restored, and are not entitled to 
enter the same under the provisions of this act, such parties, persons, 
or corporations shall have six months in which to remove any growing 
crop, and within which time they shall also be entitled to remove all 
buildings and other movable improvements from said lands : Provided 
further, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to any lands 
situate in the State of Iowa on which any person in good faith has 
made or asserted the right to make a preemption or homestead settle- 
ment: And provided further, That nothing in this act contained shall 
be construed as limiting the rights granted to purchasers or settlers by 
"An act to provide for the adjustment of land grants made by Con- 
gress to aid in the construction of railroads and for the forfeiture of 
unearned lands, and for other purposes," approved March third, eight- 
een hundred and eighty-seven, or as repealing, altering, or amending 
said act, nor in any manner affecting any cause of action existing in 
favor of any purchaser against his grantor for breach of any covenants 
of title. 

Sec. 4. That section 5 of an act entitled "An act for a grant of lands 
to the State of Iowa in alternate sections to aid in the construction of a 
railroad in said State," approved May seventeenth, eighteen hundred 
and sixty- four, and section seven of an act entitled "An act extending 
the time for the completion of certain land-grant railroads in the States 
of Minnesota and Iowa, and for other purposes," approved March third, 
eighteen hundred and sixty -five, and also section five of an act entitled 
"An act making an additional grant of lauds to the State of Minnesota 
in alternate sections to aid in the construction of railroads in said 
States," approved July fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, so far 
as said sections are applicable to lands embraced within the indemnity 
limits of said grants, be, and the same are hereby, repealed; and so 
much of the provisions of section four of an act approved June second, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-four, and entitled "An act to amend an act 
entitled 'An act making a grant of lands to the State of Iowa in alter- 
nate sections to aid in the construction of certain railroads in said 
State,'" approved May fifteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, be, 
and the same are hereby, repealed so far as they require the Secretary 
of the Interior to reserve any lands but the odd sections within the 
primary or six-miles granted limits of the roads mentioned in said act 
of June second, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, or the act of which 
the same is amendatory. 

Sec. 5. That if it shall be found that any lands heretofore granted to 
the Northern Pacific Kailroad Company and so resumed by the United 
States and restored to the public domain lie north of the line known as 
the "Harrison line," being a line drawn from Wallula, Washington, 
easterly to the southeast corner of the northeast one-fourth of the south- 
east quarter of section twenty-seven, in township seven north, of rang* 1 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 217 

thirty-seven east, of the Willamette meridian, all persons who had 
acquired in good faith the title of the Northern Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany to any portion of said lands prior to July first, eighteen hundred 
and eighty-five, or who at said date were in possession of any portion of 
said lands or had improved the same, claiming the same underwritten 
contract Avith said company, executed in good faith, or their heirs or 
assigns, as the case may be, shall be entitled to purchase the lands so 
acquired, possessed, or improved, from the United States, at any time 
prior to the expiration of one year after it shall be finally determined 
that such lands are restored to the public domain by the provisions of 
this act, at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, and to 
receive patents therefor upon proof before the proper land office of the 
fact of such acquisition, possession, or improvement, and payment there- 
for, without limitation as to quantity: Provided, That the rights of way 
and riparian rights heretofore attempted to be conveyed to the city of 
Portland, in the State of Oregon, by the Northern Pacific Railroad 
Company and the Central Trust Company of New York, by deed of 
conveyance dated August eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, and 
which are described as follows : A strip of land fifty feet in width, 
being twenty-five feet on each side of the center line of a water-pipe 
line, as the same is staked out and located, or as it shall be hereafter 
finally located according to the provisions of an act of the legislative 
assembly of the State of Oregon approved November twenty-fifth, eight- 
een hundred and eighty-five, providing for the means to supply the city 
of Portland with an abundance of good, pure, and wholesome water over 
and across the following- described tracts of land: Sections nineteen 
and thirty-one in township one south, of range six east ; sections twenty- 
five, thirty -one, thirty-three, and thirty-five in township one south, of 
range five east; sections three and five in township two south, of range 
five east; section one in township two south, of range four east; sec- 
tions twenty-three, twenty-five, and thirty-five in township one south, 
of range four east, of the Willamette meridian, in the State of Oregon, 
forfeited by this act, are hereby confirmed unto the said city of Port- 
land, in the State of Oregon, its successors and assigns forever, with 
the right to enter on the hereinbefore-described strip of land, over and 
across the above-described sections for the purpose of constructing, 
maintaining, and repairing a water-pipe line aforesaid. 

Sec. 6. That no lands declared forfeited to the United States by this 
act shall by reason of such forfeiture inure to the benefit of any State 
or corporation to which lands may have been granted by Congress, 
except as herein otherwise provided; nor shall this act be construed 
to enlarge the area of land originally covered by any such grant, or to 
confer any right upon any State, corporation, or person to lands which 
were excepted from such grant. Nor shall the moiety of the lands 
granted to any railroad company on account of a main and a branch 
line appertaining to uncompleted road, and hereby forfeited, within the 
conflicting limits of the grants for such main and branch lines, when 
but one of such lines has been completed, inure by virtue of the forfei- 
ture hereby declared to the benefit of the completed line. 

Sec. 7. That in all cases where lands included in a grant of land to the 
State of Mississippi, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a 
railroad from Brandon to the Gulf of Mexico, commonly known as the 
Gulf and Ship Island Railroad, have heretofore been sold by the officers 
of the United States for cash, or with the allowance or approval of such 
officers have entered in good faith under the preemption or homestead 
laws, or upon which there were bona fide preemption or homestead 
claims on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, arising 



218 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

or asserted by actual occupation of the land under color of the laws of 
the United States, the right and title of the persons holding or claim- 
ing any such lands under such sales or entries are hereby confirmed, 
and persons claiming the right to enter as aforesaid may perfect their 
entry under the law. And on condition that the Gulf and Ship Island 
Eailroad Company within ninety days from the passage of this act 
shall, by resolution of its board of directors, duly accept the provisions 
of the same and file with the Secretary of the Interior a valid relin- 
quishment of all said company's interest, right, title, and claim in and 
to all such lands as have been sold, entered, or claimed, as aforesaid, 
then the forfeiture declared in the first section of this act shall not 
apply to or in anywise affect so much and such parts of said grant of 
lands to the State of Mississippi as lie south of a line drawn east and 
west through the point where the Gulf and Ship Island Eailroad may 
cross the New Orleans and Northeastern Eailroad in said State, until 
one year after the passage of this act. And there maybe selected and 
certified to or in behalf of said company lands in lieu of those herein- 
before required to be surrendered, to be taken within the indemnity 
limits of the original grant nearest to and opposite such part of the 
line as may be constructed at the date of selection. 

Sec. 8. That the Mobile and Girard Eailroad Company, of Alabama, 
shall be entitled to the quantity of land earned by the construction of 
its road from Girard to Troy, a distance of eighty-four miles. And the 
Secretary of the Interior in making settlement and certifying to or for 
the benefit of the said company the lands earned thereby shall include 
therein all the lands sold, conveyed, or otherwise disposed of by said 
company not to exceed the total amount earned by said company as 
aforesaid. And the title of the purchasers to all such lands are hereby 
confirmed so far as the United States are concerned. 

But such settlement and certification shall not include any lands 
upon which there were bona fide preemptors or homestead claims on 
the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety, arising or 
asserted by actual occupation of the land under color of the laws of 
the United States. 

The right hereby given to the said railroad company is on condition 
that it shall within ninety days from the passage of this act, by resolu- 
tion of its board of directors, duly accept the provisions of the same 
and file with the Secretary of the Interior a valid relinquishment of all 
said company's interest, right, title, and claim in and to all such lands 
within the limits of its grant as have heretofore been sold by the offi- 
cers of the United States for cash, where the Government still retains 
the purchase money, or with the allowance or approval of such officers 
have been entered in good faith under the preemption or homestead 
laws, or as are claimed under the homestead or preemption laws as 
aforesaid, and the right and title of the persons holding or claiming any 
such lauds under such sales or entries are hereby confirmed, and all 
such claims under the preemption or homestead laws may be perfected 
as provided by law. Said company to have the right to select other 
lands, as near as practicable to constructed road and within indemnity 
limits, in lieu of the lands so relinquished. And the title of the United 
States is hereby relinquished in favor of all persons holding under any 
sales by the local land officers of the lands in the granted limits of the 
Alabama and Florida Eailroad grant, where the United States still 
retains the purchase money but without liability on the part of the 
United States. 

Approved, September 29, 1890. (26 Stat., 496.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 219 

[No. 41.] 

SETTLERS ON NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD INDEMNITY LANDS. 

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on Northern Pacific Railroad indemnity lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
states of America in Congress assembled, That those persons who, after 
the fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred 
and eighty-seven, and before the first day of January, in the year 
eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, settled upon, improved, and made 
final proof on lands in the so-called second indemnity belt of the North- 
ern Pacific Eailroad Company's grant under the homestead and pre- 
emption laws of the United States, or their heirs, may transfer their 
said entries from said tracts to such other vacant surveyed Government 
land in compact form and in legal subdivisions, subject to entry under 
the homestead and preemption laws, as they may select, and receive 
final certificates and receipts therefor, in lieu of the tracts proved up on 
in said belt by the respective claimants : Provided, That such transfer 
of entry shall be made and completed within twelve months from the 
date of the passage of this act and be so made in person by the claim- 
ant, or, in case of death, by his legal representative, and without the 
intervention of agent or attorney. 

Sec. 2. That all persons possessing the requisite qualifications under 
the preemption or homestead laws, who in good faith settled upon and 
improved land in said second indemnity belt, having made filing or 
entry of the same, and for any reason, other than voluntary abandon- 
ment, failed to make proof thereon, may, in lieu thereof, within one year 
after the passage of this act, transfer their claims to any vacant surveyed 
Government land subject to entry under the homestead or preemption 
laws, and make proof therefor as in other cases provided ; and in mak- 
ing such proof credit shall be given for the period of their bona fide 
residence and amount of their improvements upon their respective 
claims in the said indemnity belt, the same as if made upon the tract 
to which the transfer is made: Provided, That no final entry shall be 
permitted, except upon proof of continuous residence upon the land, 
the subject of such new entry, for a period of not less than three months 
prior thereto. Payment for said final selection shall be made as under 
existing laws. The provisions of this act shall be carried into effect 
under such rules and regulations as maybe prescribed by the Secretary 
of the Interior. 

Approved, October 1, 1890. (26 Stat., 647.) 



[No. 42.1 

ACT OF SEPTEMBER 29, 1890, FORFEITING RAILROAD LANDS, AMENDED. 

Chap. 244. — AN ACT to amend an act entitled " An act to forfeit certain lands here- 
tofore granted for the purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads, and for 
other purposes." 

Be it enacted by tho Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That an act entitled "An act 
to forfeit certain lands heretofore granted for the purpose of aiding in 



220 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the construction of railroads, and for other purposes," approved Sep- 
tember 29, 1890, be, and the same is hereby, amended so that the period 
within which settlers, purchasers, and others under the provisions of 
said act may make application to purchase lands forfeited thereby, or 
to make or move to perfect any homestead entries which are preserved 
or authorized under said act, when such period begins to run from the 
passage of the act, shall begin to run from the date of the promulgation 
by the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the instructions to 
the officers of the local land offices for their direction in the disposition 
of said lands: Provided, That nothing herein shall extend anytime or 
enlarge any rights given by said act to any railroad company. 
Approved, February 18, 1891. (26 Stat., 764.) 



[No. 43.] 

SECTION 8 OF THE FOLLOWING ACT AMENDED. 

AN ACT to amend section eight of an act approved March third, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-one, entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws and for other pur- 
poses." 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Rouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section eight of an act 
entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," 
approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, be and the 
same is hereby amended so as to read as follows : 

"Sec. 8. That suits by the United States to vacate and annul any 
patent heretofore issued shall only be brought within five years from 
the passage of this act, and suits to vacate and annul patents hereafter 
issued shall only be brought within six years after the date of the issu- 
ance of such patents. And in the States of Colorado, Montana, Idaho, 
North Dakota and South Dakota, Wyoming, and the District of Alaska, 
and the gold and silver regions of Nevada and the Territory of Utah, 
in any criminal prosecution or civil action by the United States for a 
trespass on such public timber lands or to recover timber or lumber cut 
thereon, it shall be a defense if the defendant shall show that the said 
timber was so cut or removed from the timber lands for use in such State 
or Territory by a resident thereof for agricultural, mining, manufactur- 
ing, or domestic purposes under rules and regulations made and pre- 
scribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and has not been transported 
out of the same ; but nothing herein contained shall operate to enlarge 
the rights of any railway company to cut timber on the public domain : 
Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may make suitable rules 
and regulations to carry out the provisions of this act, and he may 
designate the sections or tracts of land where timber may be cut, 
and it shall not be lawful to cut or remove any timber except as may 
be prescribed by such rules and regulations; but this act shall not 
operate to repeal the act of June third, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
eight, providing for cutting of timber on mineral lands. 

Approved, March 3, 1891. (26 Stat., 1093.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 221 

[No. 44.] 

REPEAL OF PREEMPTION AND TIMBER CULTURE LAWS — MODIFICA- 
TION OF HOMESTEAD AND OTHER LAWS. 

AN ACT to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That an act entitled "An act 
to amend an act entitled 'An act to encourage the growth of timber on 
the Western prairies,'" approved June fourteenth, eighteen hundred 
and seventy eight, and all laws supplementary thereto or amendatory 
thereof, be, and the same are hereby, repealed: Provided, That this 
repeal shall not affect any valid rights heretofore accrued or accruing 
under said laws, but all bona fide claims lawfully initiated before the 
passage of this act may be perfected upon due compliance with law, in 
the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and subject to 
the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if this act had not 
been passed : And provided further. That the following words of the 
last clause of section two of said act, namely, " That not less than 
twenty- seven hundred trees were planted on each acre," are hereby 
repealed: And provided further, That in computing the period of culti- 
vation the time shall run from the date of the entry, if the necessary 
acts of cultivation were performed within the proper time: And pro- 
vided further, That the preparation of the land and the planting of 
trees shall be construed as acts of cultivation, and the time authorized 
to be so employed and actually employed shall be computed as a part 
of the eight years of cultivation required by statute: Provided, That 
any person who has made entry of any public lands of the United 
States under the timber-culture laws, and who has for a period of four 
years in good faith complied with the provisions of said laws and who 
is an actual bona fide resident of the State or Territory in which said 
land is located shall be entitled to make final proof thereto, and acquire 
title to the same, by the payment of one dollar and twenty-five cents 
per acre for such tract, under such rules and regulations as shall be 
prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and registers and receivers 
shall be allowed the same fees and compensation for final proofs in 
timber- culture entries as is now allowed by law in homestead entries : 
And provided further, That no land acquired under the provisions of 
this act shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt 
or debts contracted prior to the issuing to the final certificate therefor. 

Sec. 2. That an act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain 
States and Territories, approved March third, eighteen hundred and sev- 
enty-seven, is hereby amended by adding thereto the following sections : 

Sec. 4. That at the time of filing the declaration hereinbefore required the party 
shall also file a map of said land, which shall exhibit a plan showing the mode of 
contemplated irrigation, and which plan shall be sufficient to thoroughly irrigate 
and reclaim said land, and prepare it to raise ordinary agricultural crops, and shall 
also show the source of the water to be used for irrigation and reclamation. Persons 
entering or proposing to enter separate sections or fractional j>arts of sections, of 
desert lands may associate together in the construction of canals and ditches for irri- 
gating and reclaiming all of said tracts, and may file a joint map or maps showing 
their plan of internal improvements. 

Sec. 5. That no land shall be patented to any person under this act unless he or 
his assignors shall have expended in the necessary irrigation, reclamation, and culti- 
vation thereof, by means of main canals and branch ditches, and in permanent 
improvements upon the land, and in the purchase of water rights for the irrigation 
of the same, at least three dollars per acre of whole tract reclaimed and patented in 



222 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

the manner following: Within one year after making entry for such tract of desert 
land as aforesaid, the party so entering shall expend not less than one dollar per acre 
for the purposes aforesaid ; and he shall in like manner expend the sum of one dollar 
per acre during the second and also during the third year thereafter, until the full 
sum of three dollars per acre is so expended. Said party shall file during each year 
with the register, proof, by the affidavits of two or more credible witnesses, that the 
full sum of one dollar per acre has been expended in such necessary improvements 
during such year, and the manner in which expended, and at the expiration of the 
third year a map or plan showing the character and extent of such improvements. If 
any party who has made such application shall fail during any year to file the testi- 
mony aforesaid, the lands shall revert to the United States, and the twenty-five cents 
advanced payment shall be forfeited to the United States, and the entry shall be can- 
celed. Nothing herein contained shall prevent a claimant from making his final entry 
and receiving his patent at an earlier date than hereinbefore prescribed, provided 
that he then makes the required proof of reclamation to the aggregate extent of three 
dollars per acre : Provided, That proof be further required of the cultivation of one- 
eighth of the land. 

Sec. 6. That this act shall not affect any valid rights heretofore accrued under 
said act of March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, but all bona fide claims 
heretofore lawfully initiated may be perfected, upon due compliance with the pro- 
visions of said act, in the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and 
subject to the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if this act had not been 
passed ; or said claims, at the option of the claimant, may be perfected and patented 
under the provisions of said act, as amended by this act, so far as applicable ; and 
all acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 7. That at any time after filing the declaration, and within the period of four 
years thereafter, upon making satisfactory proof to the register and the receiver of 
the reclamation and cultivation of said land to the extent and cost and in the man- 
ner aforesaid, and substantially in accordance with the plans herein provided for, 
and that he or she is a citizen of the United States, and upon payment to the receiver 
of the additional sum of one dollar per acre for said land, a patent shall issue there- 
for to the applicant or his assigns; but no person or association of persons shall 
hold, by assignment or otherwise prior to the issue of patent, more than three hun- 
dred and twenty acres of such arid or desert lands; but this section shall not apply 
to entries made or initiated prior to the approval of this act : Provided, however, 
That additional proofs may be required at any time within the period prescribed by 
law, and that the claims or entries made under this or any preceding act shall be 
subject to contest, as provided by the law relating to homestead cases, for illegal 
inception, abandonment, or failure to comply with the requirements of law, and 
upon satisfactory proof thereof shall be canceled, and the lands and moneys paid 
therefor shall be forfeited to the United States. 

Sec. 8. That the provisions of the act to which this is an amendment, and the 
amendments thereto, shall apply to and be in force in the State of Colorado, as well 
as the States named in the original act ; and no person shall be entitled to make 
entry of desert land except he be a resident citizen of the State or Territory in 
which the land sought to be entered is located. 

Sec. 3. That section twenty-two hundred and eighty-eight of the 
Eevised Statutes be amended so as to read as follows : 

Sec. 2288. Any bona fide settler under the preemption, homestead, or other settle- 
ment law shall have the right to transfer, by warranty against his own acts, any 
portion of his claim for church, cemetery, or school purposes, or for the right of way 
of railroads, canals, reservoirs, or ditches for irrigation or drainage across it; and 
the transfer for such public purposes shall in no way vitiate the right to complete 
and perfect the title to his claim. 

Sec. 4. That chapter four of title thirty-two, excepting sections 
twenty-two hundred and seventy-five, twenty- two hundred and seventy- 
six, twenty-two hundred and eighty-six, of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States, and all other laws allowing preemption of the public 
lands of the United States, are hereby repealed, but all bona fide claims 
lawfully initiated before the passage of this act, under any of said pro- 
visions of law so repealed, may be perfected upon due compliance with 
law, in the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and 
subject to the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if this act 
had not been passed. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 223 

Sec. 5. That sections twenty-two hundred and eighty-nine and 
twenty-two hundred and ninety, in said chapter numbered five of the 
Revised Statutes, be, and the same are hereby, amended so that they 
shall read as follows : 

Sec. 2289. Every person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the ago 
of twenty- one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his decla- 
ration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, shall he 
entitled to enter one quarter section, or a less quantity, of unappropriated public 
lands, to be located in a body in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public 
lands ; but no person who is the proprietor of more than one hundred and sixty acres 
of land in any State or Territory shall acquire any right under the homestead law. 
And every person owning and residing on land may, under the provisions of this sec- 
tion, enter other land lying contiguous to his land, which shall not, with the land so 
already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres. 

Sec. 2290. That any person applying to enter land under the preceding section shall 
first make and subscribe before the proper officer and file in the proper land office an 
affidavit that he or she is the head of a family or is over twenty-one years of age, 
and that such application is honestly and in good faith made for the purpose of 
actual settlement and cultivation, and not for the benefit of any other person, persons, 
or corporation, and that he or she will faithfully and honestly endeavor to comply 
with all the requirements of law as to settlement, residence, and cultivation neces- 
sary to acquire title to the land applied for; that he or she is not acting as agent 
of any person, corporation, or syndicate in making such entry, nor in collusion with 
any person, corporation, or syndicate to give them the benefit of the land entered, 
or any part thereof, or the timber thereon; that he or she does not apply to enter the 
same for the purpose of speculation, but in good faith to obtain a home for himself 
or herself, and. that he or she has not directly or indirectly made, and will not make, 
any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person or persons, corpo- 
ration, or syndicate whatsoever, by which the title which he or she might acquire 
from the Government of the United States should inure, in whole or in part, to the 
benefit of any person, except himself or herself; and upon filing such affidavit with 
the register or receiver, on payment of five dollars when the entry is of not more than 
eighty acres and on payment of ten dollars when the entry is for more than eighty 
acres, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the amount of land specified. 

Sec. 6. That section twenty-three hundred and one of the Eevised 
Statutes be amended so as to read as follows : 

" Sec. 2301. Nothing in this chapter shall be so construed as to prevent any person 
who shall hereafter avail himself of the benefits of section twenty-two hundred and 
eighty-nine from paying the minimum price for the quantity of land so entered at 
any time after the expiration of fourteen calendar months from the date of such 
entry, and obtaining a patent therefor, upon making proof of settlement and of resi- 
dence and cultivation for such period of fourteen months," and the provision of this 
section shall apply to lands on the ceded portion of the Sioux Eeservation by act 
approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, in South Dakota, but shall 
not relieve said settlers from any payments now required by law. 

Sec. 7. That whenever it shall appear to the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office that a clerical error has been committed in the 
entry of any of the public lands such entry may be suspended, upon 
proper notification to the claimant, through the local land office, until 
the error has been corrected; and all entries made under the preemp- 
tion, homestead, desert-land, or timber- culture laws, in which final proof 
aod payment may have been made and certificates issued and to which 
there are no adverse claims originating prior to final entry and which 
have been sold or incumbered prior to the first day of March, eighteen 
hundred and eighty-eight, and after final entry, to bona fide purchasers, 
or incumbrancers, for a valuable consideration, shall, unless, upon an 
investigation by a Government agent, fraud on the part of a purchaser 
has been found, be confirmed and patented upon presentation of satis- 
factory proof to the Land Department of such sale or incumbrance: 
Provided, That after the lapse of two years from the date of the issu- 
ance of the receiver's receipt upon the final entry of any tract of land 
under the homestead, timber- culture, desert-land, or preemption laws, 



224 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

or under this act, and when there shall be no pending contest or pro- 
test against the validity of such entry, the entryman shall be entitled 
to a patent conveying the land by him entered, and the same shall be 
issued to him ; but this proviso shall not be construed to require the 
delay of two years from the date of said entry before the issuing of a 
patent therefor. 

Sec. 8. 1 That suits by the United States to vacate and annul any 
patent heretofore issued shall only be brought within five years from 
the passage of this act and suits to vacate and annul patents hereafter 
issued shall only be brought within six years after the date of the issu- 
ance of such patents. And in the States of Colorado, Montana, Idaho, 
North Dakota and South Dakota, Wyoming, and in the District of 
Alaska and the gold and silver regions of Nevada, and the Territory of 
Utah, in any criminal prosecution or civil action by the United States 
for a trespass on such public timber lands or to recover timber or lum- 
ber cut thereon, it shall be a defense if the defendant shall show that 
the said timber was so cut or removed from the timber lands for use in 
such State or Territory by a resident thereof for agricultural, mining, 
manufacturing, or domestic purposes, and has not been transported out 
of the same; but nothing herein contained shall apply to operate to 
enlarge the rights of any railway company to cut timber on the public 
domain: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may make suit- 
able rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section. 

Sec. 9. That hereafter no public lands of the United States, except 
abandoned military or other reservations, isolated and disconnected 
fractional tracts authorized to be sold by section twenty-four hundred 
and fifty-five of the Eevised Statutes, and mineral and other lands the 
sale of which at public auction has been authorized by acts of Con- 
gress of a special nature having local application, shall be sold at pub- 
lic sale. 

Sec. 10. That nothing in this act shall change, repeal, or modify any 
agreements or treaties made with any Indian tribes for the disposal of 
their lands, or of land ceded to the United States to be disposed of for 
the benefit of such tribes, and the proceeds thereof to be placed in the 
Treasury of the United States; and the disposition of such lands shall 
continue in accordance with the provisions of such treaties or agree- 
ments, except as provided in section 5 of this act. 

Sec. 11. That until otherwise ordered by Congress lands in Alaska 
maybe entered for town-site purposes, for the several use and benefit 
of the occupants of such town sites, by such trustee or trustees as may 
be named by the Secretary of the Interior for that purpose, such entries 
to be made under the provisions of section twenty-three hundred and 
eighty-seven of the Eevised Statutes as near as may be; and when 
such entries shall have been made the Secretary of the Interior shall 
provide by regulation for the proper execution of the trust in favor of 
the inhabitants of the town site, including the survey of the land into 
lots, according to the spirit and intent of said section twenty- three 
hundred and eighty-seven of the Eevised Statutes, whereby the same 
results would be reached as though the entry had been made by a county 
judge and the disposal of the lots in such town site and the proceeds of 
the sale thereof had been prescribed by the legislative authority of a 
State or Territory : Provided, That no more than six hundred and forty 
acres shall be embraced in one town-site entry. 



Amended by act of March 3, 1891. (See Appendix 43, p. 220.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 225 

Sec. 12. That any citizen of the United States twenty-one years of 
age, and any association of such citizens, and any corporation incorpo- 
rated under" the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory 
of the United States now authorized by law to hold lands in the Terri- 
tories now or hereafter in possession of and occupying public lands in 
Alaska for the purpose of trade or manufactures, may purchase not 
exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, to be taken as near as practi- 
cable in a square form, of such land at two dollars and fifty cents per 
acre: Provided, That in case more than one person, association, or 
corporation shall claim the same tract of land the person, association, 
or corporation having the prior claim by reason of possession and con- 
tinued occupation shall be entitled to purchase the same; but the entry 
of no person, association, or corporation shall include improvements 
made by or in possession of another prior to the passage of this act. 

Sec. 13. That it shall be the duty of any person, association, or cor- 
poration entitled to purchase land under this act to make an applica- 
tion to the United States marshal, ex officio surveyor-general of Alaska, 
for an estimate of the cost of making a survey of the lands occupied by 
such person, association, or corporation, and the cost of the clerical 
work necessary to be done in the office of the said United States mar- 
shal, ex officio surveyor-general; and on the receipt of such estimate 
from the United States marshal, ex officio surveyor-general, the said 
person, association, or corporation shall deposit the amount in a United 
States depository, as is required by section numbered twenty-four 
hundred and one, Eevised Statutes, relating to deposits for surveys. 

That on the receipt by the United States marshal, ex officio surveyor- 
general, of the said certificates of deposit, he shall employ a competent 
person to make such survey, under such rules and regulations as may 
be adopted by the Secretary of the Interior, who shall make his return 
of his field notes and maps to the office of the said United States mar- 
shal, ex officio surveyor- general; and the said United States marshal, 
ex officio surveyor- general, shall cause the said field notes and plats of 
such survey to be examined, and, if correct, approve the same, and 
shall transmit certified copies of such maps and plats to the office of the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office. 

That when the said field notes and plats of said survey shall have 
been approved by the said Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
he shall notify such person, association, or corporation, who shall then 
within six months after such notice, pay to the said United States mar- 
shal, ex officio surveyor-general, for such land, and patent shall issue 
for the same. 

Sec. 14. That noue of the provisions of the last two preceding sec- 
tions of this act shall be so construed as to warrant the sale of any 
lands belonging to the United States which shall contain coal or the 
precious metals, or any town site, or which shall be occupied by the 
United States for public purposes, or which shall be reserved for such 
purposes, or to which the natives of Alaska have prior rights by virtue 
of actual occupation, or which shall be selected by the United States 
Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries on the islands of Kadiak and Afog- 
nak for the purpose of establishing fish-culture stations. And all tracts 
of land not exceeding six hundred and forty acres in anyone tract now 
occupied as missionary stations in said District of Alaska are hereby 
excepted from the operation of the last three preceding sections of this 
act. No portion of the islands of the Pribylov Group or the Seal 
Islands of Alaska shall be subject to sale under this act; and the 
3073 15 



226 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

United States reserves, and there shall be reserved in all patents issued 
under the provisions of the last two preceding sections the right of the 
United States to regulate the taking of salmon and to do all things 
necessary to protect and prevent the destruction of salmon in all the 
waters of the lands granted frequented by salmon. 

Sec. 15. That until otherwise provided by law the body of lands 
known as Annette Islands, situated in Alexander Archipelago in South- 
eastern Alaska, on the north side of Dixon's Entrance, be, and the same 
is hereby, set apart as a reservation for the use of the Metlakahtla 
Indians, and those people known as Metlakahtlans who have recently 
emigrated from British Columbia to Alaska, and such other Alaskan 
natives as may join them, to be held and used by them in common, 
under such rules and regulations, and subject to such restrictions as 
may be prescribed from time to time by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Sec. 16. That town-site entries may be made by incorporated towns 
and cities on the mineral lands of the United States, but no title shall 
be acquired by such towns or cities to any vein of gold, silver, cinnabar, 
copper, or lead, or to any valid mining claim or possession held under 
existing law. When mineral veins are possessed within the limits of 
an incorporated town or city, and such possession is recognized by local 
authority or by the laws of the United States, the title to town lots 
shall be subject to such recognized possession and the necessary use 
thereof and when entry has been made or patent issued for such town- 
sites to such incorporated town or city, the possessor of such mineral 
vein may enter and receive patent for such mineral vein, and the sur- 
face ground appertaining thereto: Provided, That no entry shall be 
made by such mineral-vein claimant for surface ground where the 
owner or occupier of the surface ground shall have had possession of 
the same before the inception of the title of the mineral -vein applicant. 

Sec. 17. That reservoir sites located or selected and to be located 
and selected under the provisions of "An act making appropriations 
for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending- 
June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and for other pur- 
poses," and amendments thereto, shall be restricted to and shall con- 
tain only so much land as is actually necessary for the construction and 
maintenance of reservoirs ; excluding so far as practicable lands occu- 
pied by actual settlers at the date of the location of said reservoirs, and 
that the provisions of "An act making appropriations for sundry civil 
expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, 
eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and for other purposes," which reads 
as follows, viz : "No person who shall after the passage of this act enter 
upon any of the public lands with a view to occupation, entry, or settle- 
ment under any of the land laws shall be permitted to acquire title to 
more than three hundred and twenty acres in the aggregate under all 
said laws," shall be construed to include in the maximum amount of 
lands the title to which is permitted to be acquired by one person only 
agricultural lands and not include lands entered or sought to be entered 
under mineral land laws. 

Sec. 18. That the right of way through the public lands and reserva- 
tions of the United States is hereby granted to any canal or ditch com- 
pany formed for the purpose of irrigation and duly organized undec the 
laws of any State or Territory, which shall have filed, or may hereafter 
file, with the Secretary of the Interior a copy of its articles of incor- 
poration, and due proofs of its organization under the same, to the extent 
of the ground occupied by the water of the reservoir and of the canal 
and its laterals, and fifty feet on each side of the marginal limits thereof; 
also the right to take, from the public lands adjacent to the line of the 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 227 

canal or ditch, material, earth, and stone necessary for the construction 
of such canal or ditch : Provided, That no such right of way shall be so 
located as to interfere with the proper occupation by the Government 
of any such reservation, and all maps of location shall be subject to the 
approval of the department of the Government having jurisdiction of 
such reservation, and the privilege herein granted shall not be con- 
strued to interfere with the control of water for irrigation and other 
purposes under authority of the respective States or Territories. 

Sec. 19. That any canal or ditch company desiring to secure the 
benefits of this act shall, within twelve months after the location of 
ten miles of its canal, if the same be upon surveyed lands, and, if upon 
unsurveyed lands, within twelve months after the survey thereof by the 
United States, file with the register of the land office for the district 
where such land is located a map of its canal or ditch and reservoir ; 
and upon the approval thereof by the Secretary of the Interior the 
same shall be noted upon the plats in said office, and thereafter all such 
lands over which such rights of way shall pass shall be disposed of 
subject to such right of way. Whenever any person or corporation, in 
the construction of any canal, ditch, or reservoir, injures or damages 
the possession of any settler on the public domain, the party commit- 
ting such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such 
injury or damage. 

Sec. 20. That the provisions of this act shall apply to all canals, 
ditches, or reservoirs, heretofore or hereafter constructed, whether con- 
structed by corporations, individuals, or association of individuals, on 
the filing of the certificates and maps herein provided for. If such ditch, 
canal, or reservoir has been or shall be constructed by any individual 
or association of individuals, it shall be sufficient for such individual 
or association of individuals to file with the Secretary of the Interior 
and with the register of the land office where said land is located a map 
of the line of such canal, ditch, or reservoir, as in case of a corporation, 
with the name of the individual owner or owners thereof, together with 
the articles of association, if any there be. Plats heretofore filed shall 
have the benefits of this act from the date of their filing as though filed 
under it: Provided, That, if any section of said canal or ditch shall 
not be completed within five years after the location of said section, 
the rights herein granted shall be forfeited as to any uncompleted sec- 
tion of said canal, ditch, or reservoir, to the extent that the same is not 
completed at the date of the forfeiture. 

Sec. 21. That nothing in this act shall authorize such canal or ditch 
company to occupy such right of way, except for the purpose of said 
canal or ditch, and then only so far as may be necessary for the con- 
struction, maintenance, and care of said canal or ditch. 

Sec. 22. That the section of land reserved for the benefit of the 
Dakota Central Eailroad Company on the west bank of the Missouri 
River, at the mouth of Bad Eiver, as provided by section sixteen of 
"An act to divide a portion of the reservation of the Sioux Nation of 
Indians in Dakota into separate reservations and to secure the relin- 
quishment of the Indian title to the remainder, and for other purposes," 
approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, shall be 
subject to entry under the town-site law only. 

Sec. 23. That in all cases where second entries of land on the Osage 
Indian trust and diminished reserve lands in Kansas, to which at the 
time there were no adverse claims, have been made and the law com- 
plied with as to residence and improvement, said entries be, and the 
same are hereby, confirmed, and in all cases where persons were actual 
settlers and residing upon their claims upon said Osage Indiau trust 



228 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

and diminished reserve lands in the State of Kansas, on the ninth day 
of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and who have made subse- 
quent preemption entries either upon public or upon said Osage Indian 
trust and diminished reserve lands, upon which there were no legal prior 
adverse claims at the time, and the law complied with as to settlement, 
said subsequent entries be, and the same are hereby, confirmed. 

Sec. 24. That the President of the United States may, from time to 
time, set apart and reserve, in any State or Territory having public land 
bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered 
with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as 
public reservations ; and the President shall, by public proclamation, 
declare the establishment of such reservation and the limits thereof. 

Approved, March 3, 1891. (26 Stat., 1095.) 



[No. 45.] 

FOR RELIEF OF SETTLERS ON PUBLIC LANDS. 

AN ACT to amend Section two of an act approved May fourteenth, eighteen hun- 
dred and eighty, being "An act for the relief of settlers on public lands." 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section two of an act 
approved May fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty, entitled u An 
act for the relief of settlers on public lands," be, and the same is hereby, 
amended so as to read as follows : 

"Sec. 2. In all cases where any person has contested, paid the land- 
office fees, and procured the cancellation of any preemption, home- 
stead, or timber culture entry, he shall be notified by the register of the 
land office of the district in which such land is situated of such cancel- 
lation, and shall be allowed thirty days from date of such notice to 
enter said lands : Provided, That said register shall be entitled to a fee 
of one dollar for the giving of such notice, to be paid by the contestant 
and not to be reported: Provided further, That should any such person 
who has initiated a contest die before the final termination of the same, 
said contest shall not abate by reason thereof, but his heirs who are 
citizens of the United States, may continue the prosecution under such 
rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe, 
and said heirs shall be entitled to the same rights under this act that 
contestant would have been if his death had not occurred. 

Approved, July 26, 1892. (27 Stat., 270.) 



[No. 46.] 

ACT OPENING KICKAPOO LANDS, OKLAHOMA. 

AN ACT to ratify and confirm an agreement with the Kickapoo Indians in Okla- 
homa Territory, and to make appropriations for carrying the same into effect. 

Sec. 3. That whenever any of the lands, acquired by this agreement 
shall, by operation of law or proclamation of the President of the 
United States, be open to settlement or entry, they shall be disposed 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 229 

of (except sectioDS sixteen and thirty-six in each township thereof) to 
actual settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead and town- 
site laws (except section twenty- three hundred and one of the Be vised 
Statutes of the United States, which shall not apply): Provided, how- 
ever, That each settler ou said lands shall, before making a final proof 
and receiving a certificate of entry, pay to the United States for the 
land so taken by him, in addition to the fees provided by law, and 
within five years from the date of the first original entry, the sum of 
one dollar and fifty cents an acre, one-half of which shall be paid within 
two years ; but the rights of honorably discharged Union soldiers and 
sailors, as defined and described in sections twenty-three hundred and 
four and twenty-three hundred and five of the Kevised Statutes of the 
United States shall not be abridged, except as to the sum to be paid 
as aforesaid. Until said lands are opened to settlement by proclama- 
tion of the President of the United States, no person shall be permitted 
to enter upon or occupy any of said lands 5 and any person violating 
this provision shall never be permitted to make entry of any of said 
lands or acquire any title thereto: Provided, That any person having 
attempted to, but for any cause failed to acquire a title in fee under 
existing law, or who made entry under what is known as the commuted 
provision of the homestead law, shall be qualified to make homestead 
entry upon said lands. 
Approved, March 3, 1893. (27 Stat., 563.) 



[No. 47.] 

EXTENSION OF TIME OF PAYMENT GRANTED TO HOMESTEAD SET- 
TLERS IN OKLAHOMA. 

AN ACT granting settlers on certain lands in Oklahoma Territory the right to com- 
ninte their homestead entries and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the homestead settlers on 
the Absentee Shawnee, Pottawatomie, and Cheyenne and Arapahoe 
Indian lands in Oklahoma Territory be, and they are hereby, granted 
an extension of one year within which to make the first payment pro- 
vided for in section sixteen of the act of Congress approved March 
third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, entitled "An act making 
appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian 
Department, and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian 
tribes for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
two and for other purposes," and such payment may be made at any 
time within three years from the date of the entry of such lands. 

Sec. 2. That any person entitled by law to take a homestead in said 
Territory of Oklahoma who has already located and filed upon, or who 
shall hereafter locate and file upon a homestead within any of the lands 
in the Absentee Shawnee, Pottawatomie, and Cheyenne and Arapahoe 
Indian lands and the Public Land Strip in Oklahoma Territory, and 
who has complied with all the laws relating to such homestead settle- 
ment, may receive a patent therefor at the expiration of twelve months 
from the date of locating upon such homestead, upon payment to the 
United States of one dollar and fifty cents per acre for the land embod- 
ied in such homestead : Provided, That homestead settlers in the Pub- 



230 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

lie Land Strip now Beaver Oounty ? Oklahoma, may receive such patent 
upon the payment to the United States of the sum of one dollar and 
twenty-five cents per acre. 

Sec. 3. That all acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. 

Approved, October 20, 1893. (28 Stat., 3.) 



[No. 48.] 

EXTENSION OF TIME WITHIN WHICH TO PURCHASE FORFEITED RAIL- 
ROAD LANDS. 

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to forfeit certain lands heretofore granted 
for the purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads, and for other purposes," 
approved September twenty -ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and the several 
Acts amendatory thereof. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That section three of an Act 
entitled "An act to forfeit certain lands heretofore granted for the 
purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads, and for other pur- 
poses/ 7 approved September twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety, 
and the several acts amendatory thereof, be, and the same is, amended 
so as to extend the time within which persons entitled to purchase lands 
forfeited by said Act shall be permitted to purchase the same, in the 
quantities and upon the terms provided in said section, at any time 
prior to January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven : Provided, 
That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to interfere 
with any adverse claim that may have attached to the lands or any 
part thereof. 

Approved, December 12, 1893. (28 Stat., 15.) 



[No. 49.] 

EXTENDING THE TIME FOR MAKINO FINAL PROOF AND PAYMENT. 

AN ACT extending the time for final proof and payment on lands claimed under 
the public land laws of the United States. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Rouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the time for making final 
proof and payment for all lands located under the homestead and des- 
ert land laws of the United States, proof and payment of which has 
not yet been made, be, and the same is hereby, extended for the period 
of one year from the time proof and payment would become due under 
existing laws. 

Sec. 2. That the time of making final payments on entries under the 
preemption Act is hereby extended for one year from the date when 
the same becomes due in all cases where preemption entrymen are 
unable to make final payments from causes which they can not control, 
evidence of such inability to be subject to the regulations of the Sec- 
retary of the Interior. 

Approved, July 26, 1894. (28 Stat., 123.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 231 

[No. 50.] 

EXTENSION OF TIME WITHIN WHICH TO MAKE PROOF IN DESERT 

LAND CASES. 

AN ACT for the relief of persons who have filed declarations of intention to enter 

desert lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases where decla- 
rations of intention to enter desert lands have been filed, and the fonr 
years' limit within which final proof may be made had not expired prior 
to January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, the time within 
which such proof may be made in each such case is hereby extended 
to five years from the date of filing the declaration ; and the require- 
ment that the persons filing such declarations shall expend the full 
sum of one dollar per acre during each year toward the reclamation of 
the land is hereby suspended for the year eighteen hundred and ninety- 
four, and such annual expenditure for that year, and the proof thereof, 
is hereby dispensed with: Provided, That within the period of five 
years from filing the declaration satisfactory proof be made to the reg- 
ister and receiver of the reclamation and cultivation of such land to 
the extent and cost and in the manner provided by existing law, except 
as to said year eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and upon the pay- 
ment to the receiver of the additional sum of one dollar per acre, as 
provided in existing law, a patent shall issue as therein provided. 

Approved, August 4, 1894. (28 Stat., 226.) 



[No. 51.] 
ENTRIES FOR BUILDING STONE— EXTENSION OF ACT OF JUNE 3, 1878. 

AN ACT to authorize the entry of lands chiefly valuahle for building stone under 

the placer mining laws. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Rouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That any person authorized to 
enter lands under the mining laws of the United States may enter lands 
that are chiefly valuable for building stone under the provisions of the 
law in relation to placer mineral claims: Provided, That lands reserved 
for the benefit of the public schools or donated to any State shall not 
be subject to entry under this act. 

Sec. 2. That an act entitled "An act for the sale of timber lands in 
the State of California, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington Territory," 
approved June third, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, be, and the 
same is hereby, amended by striking out the words "States of Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington Territory " where the same 
occur in the second and third lines of said act, and insert in lieu 
thereof the words, "public-land States," the purpose of this act being 
to make said act of June third, eighteen hundred and seventy- eight, 
applicable to all the public-land States. 

Sec 3. That nothing in this act shall be construed to repeal section 
twenty-four of the act entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, 
and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and 
ninety-one. 

Approved, August 4, 1892. (27 Stat., 348.) 



232 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[No. 52.] 

MODIFICATION OF FINAL PROOF REQUIRED IN TIMBER CULTURE 
ENTRIES — RELIEF TO PURCHASERS OF TRACTS COVERED BY CER- 
TAIN INVALID SOLDIERS' ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD ENTRIES. 

AN ACT making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for 
the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety -four, and for 
other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, 

That section one of an act entitled "An act to repeal timber culture 
laws and for other purposes, 7 ' approved March third, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-one, be, and hereby is amended by adding the following 
words to the fourth proviso thereof: u And provided further, That if 
trees, seeds, or cuttings were in good faith planted as provided by law 
and the same and the land upon which so planted were thereafter in 
good faith cultivated as provided by law for at least eight years by a 
person qualified to make entry and who has a subsisting entry under 
the timber culture laws, final proof may be made without regard to the 
number of trees that may have been then growing on the land." And 
provided further, That where soldier's additional homestead entries 
have been made or initiated upon certificate of the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office of the right to make such entry, and there is 
no adverse claimant, and such certificate is found erroneous or invalid 
for any cause, the purchaser thereunder, on making proof of such 
purchase, may perfect his title by payment of the Government price 
for the land; but no person shall be permitted to acquire more than one 
hundred and sixty acres of public land through the location of any 
such certificate. 

Approved, March 3, 1893. (27 Stat., 593.) 



[No. 53.] 

TO AMEND SECTION 2324 REVISED STATUTES. 

AN ACT to amend section numbered twenty-three hundred and twenty-four of the 
Revised Statutes of the United States relating to mining claims. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of section 
numbered twenty-three hundred and twenty-four of the Eevised Stat- 
utes of the United States, which require that on each claim located 
after the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and 
until patent has been issued therefor, not less than one hundred dol- 
lars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made during 
each year, be suspended for the year eighteen hundred and ninety-four, 
so that no mining claim which has been regularly located and recorded 
as required by the local laws and mining regulations shall be subject 
to forfeiture for nonperformance of the annual assessment for the year 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 233 

eighteen hundred and ninety-four: Provided, That the claimant or 
claimants of any mining* location, in order to secure the benefits of this 
Act, shall cause to be recorded in the office where the location notice or 
certificate is filed on or before December thirty-first, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-four, a notice that he or they in good faith intend to hold 
and work said claim: Provided, however, That the provisions of this 
Act shall not apply to the State of South Dakota. 

Sec. 2. That this act shall take effect from and after its passage. 

Approved, July 18, 1894. (28 Stat., 114.) 



[No. 54.] 

SURVEY OF PUBLIC LANDS AT REQUEST OF PERSONS OR ASSOCIA- 
TIONS OF PERSONS — SPECIAL DEPOSITS THEREFOR. 

AN ACT to amend sections twenty-four hundred and one and twenty-four hundred 
and three of the Revised Statutes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section twenty- four hun- 
dred and one of the Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby 
amended so as to read as follows : 

" Sec. 2401. When the settlers in any township not mineral or 
reserved by the Government, or persons and associations lawfully pos- 
sessed of coal lands and otherwise qualified to make entry thereof, or 
when the owners or grantees of public lands of the United States, 
under any law thereof, desire a survey made of the same under the 
authority of the surveyor- general and shall file an application therefor 
in writing, and shall deposit in a proper United States depository to 
the credit of the United States a sum sufficient to pay for such survey, 
together with all expenditures incident thereto, without cost or claim 
for indemnity on the United States, it shall be lawful for the surveyor- 
general, under such instructions as may be given him by the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office, and in accordance with, law, to 
survey such township or such public lands owned by said grantees of 
the Government, and make return therefor to the general and proper 
local land office : Provided, That no application shall be granted unless 
the township so proposed to be surveyed is within the range of the 
regular progress of the public surveys embraced by existing standard 
lines or bases for township and subdivisional surveys." 

Sec. 2. That section twenty-four hundred and three of the Revised 
Statutes of the United States as heretofore amended is hereby amended 
so as to read as follows : 

"Sec. 2403, Where settlers or owners or grantees of public lands 
make deposits in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-four 
hundred and one, as hereby amended, certificates shall be issued for 
such deposits which may be used by settlers m part payment for the 
lands settled upon by them, the survey of which is paid for out of such 
deposits, or said certificates may be assigned by indorsement and may 
be received by the Government in payment for any public lands of the 
United States in the States where the surveys were made, entered or 
to be entered under the laws thereof." 



234 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Sec. 3. That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with this act be, 
and the same are hereby, repealed. 
Received by the President, August 8, 1894. 

[Note by the Department of State. — The foregoing act having 
been presented to the President of the United States for his approval, 
and not having been returned by him to the house of Congress in which 
it originated within the time prescribed by the Constitution of the 
United States, has become a law without his approval.] 

August 20, 1894. (28 Stat., 423.) 



[No. 55.] 

GRANTING THE RIGHT OF COMMUTATION TO HOMESTEAD SETTLERS 

IN OKLAHOMA. 

AN ACT making appropriations for current and contingent expenses of the Indian 
Department and fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the 
fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and for other 
purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. 

Sec. 19. That the right of commutation is hereby extended to all 
bona fide homestead settlers on the lands in Oklahoma Territory opened 
to settlement under the provisions of the act of Congress entitled "An 
act making appropriations for current and contingent expenses and 
fulfilling treaty stipulations with Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending 
June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety -four," approved March 
third, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, and the President's proclama- 
tion in pursuance thereof, after fourteen months from the date of settle- 
ment upon the full payment for the lands at the prices provided in 
said act. 

# # # # # * # 

Approved, August 15, 1894. (28 Stat., 336.) 



[No. 56.] 

SOLDIERS' ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD CERTIFICATES — VALID IN THE 
HANDS OF BONA FIDE PURCHASERS. 

AN ACT making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the 
fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and for other 
purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, 

* # # # # # # 

That all soldiers' additional homestead certificates heretofore issued 
under the rules and regulations of the General Land Office under sec- 
tion twenty-three hundred and six of the Eevised Statutes of the 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 235 

United States, or in pursuance of the decisions or instructions of the 
Secretary of the Interior, of date March tenth, eighteen hundred and 
seventy- seven, or any subsequent decisions or instructions of the Sec- 
retary of the Interior or the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
shall be, and are hereby, declared to be valid, notwithstanding any 
attempted sale or transfer thereof; and where such certificates have 
been or may hereafter be sold or transferred, such sale or transfer shall 
not be regarded as invalidating the right, but the same shall be good 
and valid in the hands of bona fide purchasers for value; and all entries 
heretofore or hereafter made with such certificates by such purchasers 
shall be approved, and patent shall issue in the name of the assignees. 

Approved, August 18, 1894. (28 Stat., 397.) 



[No. 57.] 

OPENING OF ABANDONED MILITARY RESERVATIONS — PREFERENCE 
RIOHT GTVEN TO SETTLERS RESIDING THEREON. 

AN ACT to provide for the opening of certain abandoned military reservations, and 

for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That all lands not already dis- 
posed of included within the limits of any abandoned military reserva- 
tion heretofore placed under the control of the Secretary of the Interior 
for disposition under the act approved July fifth, eighteen hundred 
and eighty-four, the disposal of which has not been provided for by a 
subsequent act of Congress, where the area exceeds five thousand 
acres, except such legal subdivisions as have Government improve- 
ments thereon, and except also such other parts as are now or may be 
reserved for some public use, are hereby opened to settlement under 
the public-land laws of the United States and a preference right of 
entry for a period of six months from the date of this act shall be 
given all bona fide settlers who are qualified to enter under the home- 
stead law and have made improvements and are now residing upon any 
agricultural lands in said reservations, and for a period of six months 
from the date of settlement when that shall occur after the date of this 
act: Provided, That persons who enter under the homestead law shall 
pay for such lands not less than the value heretofore or hereafter deter- 
mined by appraisement, nor less than the price of the land at the time 
of the entry, and such payment may, at the option of the purchaser, 
be made in five equal installments, at times and at rates of interest to 
be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Sec. 2. That nothing contained in this act shall be construed to sus- 
pend or to interfere with the operation of the said act approved July 
fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, as to all lands included in 
abandoned military reservations hereafter placed under the control of 
the Secretary of the Interior for disposal, and all appraisements required 
by the first section of this act shall be in accordance with the provisions 
of said act of July fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four. 

Approved, August 23, 1894. (28 Stat., 491.) 



236 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[No. 58. J 

MILITARY BOUNTY LAND WARRANTS — LOCATION OF. 

AN ACT to provide for the location and satisfaction of outstanding military bounty 
land warrants and certificates of location under section three of the Act approved 
June second, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That in addition to the benefits 
now given thereto by law, all unsatisfied military bounty land warrants 
under any act of Congress, and unsatisfied indemnity certificates of loca- 
tion under the act of Congress approved June second, eighteen hundred 
and fifty-eight, whether heretofore or hereafter issued, shall be receiv- 
able at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre in payment 
or part payment for any lands entered under the desert land law of 
March third, eighteen hundred and eighty- [seventy-] seven, entitled "An 
act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Terri- 
tories," and the amendments thereto, the timber- culture law of March 
third, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, entitled "An act to encour- 
age the growth of timber on the Western prairies," and the amendments 
thereto; the timber and stone law of June third, eighteen hundred and 
seventy- eight, entitled "An act for the sale of timber lands in the States 
of California, Oregon, Nebraska, and Washington Territory, 1 ' and the 
amendments thereto, or for lands which may be sold at public auction, 
except such lands as shall have been purchased from any Indian tribe 
within ten years last past. 

Approved, December 13, 1894. (28 Stat., 594.) 



[No. 59.] 

AMENDMENT TO SECTION 3, ACT OF MARCH 2, 1889. 

AN ACT to amend section three of an act to withdraw certain puhlic lands from 
private entry, and for other purposes, approved March second, eighteen hundred 
and eighty-nine. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section three of the said 
act of March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, be amended 
by adding thereto the following provision : That if any such settler 
has heretofore forfeited his or her entry for any of said reasons, such 
person shall be permitted to make entry of not to exceed a quarter 
section on any public land subject to entry under the homestead law, 
and to perfect title to the same under the same conditions in every 
respect as if he had not made the former entry. 

Approved, December 29, 1894. (28 Stat., 599.) 



[No. 60. j 

GRANTING RELIEF, ON ACCOUNT OF FOREST FIRES, TO SETTLERS IN 

WISCONSIN, MINNESOTA, AND MICHIGAN. 

AN ACT for the relief of homestead settlers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. 

Whereas during the summer and autumn of eighteen hundred and 
ninety-four extensive forest fires prevailed in northern Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, and Michigan, resulting in the death of many homesteaders 
and their families, the destruction of their property and effects, and of 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 237 

much of the green timber growing upon them, which homesteads are 
valuable chiefly for the timber standing and growing on them ; and, 

Whereas under existing law homesteaders are not allowed to cut or 
sell green or burned timber, except for the purpose of clearing and 
improving, and all burned timber not cut within a short period will 
become worthless and a loss to the settler and the Government: There- 
fore, 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That all such persons actually 
occupying homesteads in said States of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and 
Michigan at the time of such tires, upon claims under the laws of the 
United States, on lands of the United States, whose property and build- 
ings were destroyed by such fires, and the heirs of all such persons who 
perished by such fires, and all persons who by reason of such fires and 
loss of property were obliged to leave their homesteads, are hereby 
granted two years' additional time in which to make final proof. And 
temporary absence for any period within two years from the date of this 
Act shall be deemed constructive possession and residence, but shall 
not be deducted from the time required to make final proof. 

Sec. 2. That all persons whose property was destroyed by such fires, 
and the heirs of all persons who were actual occupants of the home- 
steads at the time of the fire, and who lost their lives in and by that 
fire, may, by proving such actual occupancy at the date of such fires, 
make proof showing compliance with the law up to the date of the fire, 
and shall make payment at the minimum price under existing statutes, 
in the same manner as if such claimants were alive, and upon receipt 
of such proof of loss of property by such fires, or death of the claimant, 
heirs surviving, and upon payment as aforesaid, a patent shall be 
issued to such claimant, or his or her telrs. 

Sec. 3. That the claimant upon any homestead, who by reason of not 
haviug lived thereon the necessary length of time to enable him to 
commute under section twenty-three hundred and one of the Eevised 
Statutes as amended by the act of March third, eighteen hundred and 
ninety-one, his heirs, executor, administrator, or guardian of his minor 
heirs, may, when the quantity of timber destroyed upon his or her 
homestead shall not exceed seventy-five thousand feet of merchantable 
green timber, file an estimate in the land office where such homestead 
was entered with such reasonable proofs as the Commissioner of Public 
Lands may prescribe, as to the quantity of timber destroyed upon any 
sectional subdivision, and thereupon the register and receiver may, 
under the direction of the Commissioner of Public Lands, issue a license 
or permit to cut the burned timber on any homestead or sectional frac- 
tion thereof, upon payment of the sum of one dollar and twenty-five 
cents per acre for such sectional subdivision, and the Government shall 
issue a patent for the same to the claimant or his or her heirs. 

Approved, January 19, 1895. (28 Stat., (334.) 



[No. 61.] 

RIGHT OF WAY GRANTED FOR TRAMROADS, CANALS, OR RESERVOIRS. 

AN ACT to permit the use of the right of way through the public lands for tram- 
roads, canals, and reservoirs, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the 
Interior be, and hereby is, authorized and empowered, under general 



238 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

regulations to be fixed by bini, to permit the use of the right of way 
through the public lauds of the United States, not within the limits of 
any park, forest, military or Indian reservation, for tramroads, canals, 
or reservoirs to the extent of the ground occupied by the water of the 
canals and reservoirs and fifty feet on each side of the marginal limits 
thereof 5 or fifty feet on each side of the center of the tramroad, by any 
citizen or any association of citizens of the United States engaged in 
the business of mining or quarrying or of cutting timber and manufac- 
turing lumber. 

Approved, January 21, 1895. (28 Stat., 635.) 



[No. 62.] 

ABANDONED MILITARY RESERVATIONS— EXTENDING PROVISIONS OF 
THE ACT OF AUGUST 23, 1894. 

AN ACT to amend and extend the provisions of an act entitled "An act to provide 
for the opening of certain abandoned military reservations, and for other pur- 
poses," approved August twenty-third, eighteen hundred and ninety-four. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
/States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of the 
act approved August twenty-third, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, 
entitled "An act to provide for the opening of certain abandoned mili- 
tary reservations, and for other purposes," are hereby extended to all 
abandoned military reservations which were placed under the control 
of the Secretary of the Interior under any law in force prior to the act 
of July fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty -four. 

Sec. 2. That the preference right of entry given to actual settlers by 
the terms of the act to which this is an amendment shall, so far as the 
lands to which the provisions of said act are extended, take effect and 
continue for six months from the date of this amendatory act. 

Approved, February 15, 1895. (28 Stat., 664.) 



[No. 63.] 

SALE OF ISOLATED OR DISCONNECTED TRACTS. 

AN ACT to amend section twenty- four hundred and fifty-five of the Revised Statutes 

of the United States. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section twenty-four hun- 
dred and fifty-five of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and 
the same is hereby, amended so as to read as follows : 

" Sec. 2455. It shall be lawful for the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office to order into market and sell for not less than one dollar 
and twenty-five cents per acre any isolated or disconnected tract or 
parcel of the public domain less than one quarter section which in his 
judgment it would be proper to expose to sale after at least thirty 
days' notice by the land officers of the district in which such lands may 
be situated : Provided, That lands shall not become so isolated or dis- 
connected until the same have been subject to homestead entry for a 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 239 

period of three years after the surrounding land has been entered, 
filed upon, or sold by the Government: Provided, That not more than 
one hundred and sixty acres shall be sold to any one person." 
Approved, February 26, 1895. (28 Stat., 687.) 



[So. 64.] 

GRANTING CHIEF JUSTICE OF UNITED STATES COURTS IN TERRITO- 
RIES POWER TO APPOINT COMMISSIONERS TO TAKE PROOF IN 
LAND CASES. 

AN ACT granting chief justice of United States courts in Territories power to 
appoint commissioners to take proof in land cases, and so forth. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That the chief justice of the 
court exercising Federal jurisdiction in the Territories shall have power 
to appoint commissioners in the several judicial districts, to be known 
when appointed as United States court commissioners. 

Sec. 2. That said commissioners shall have power, and it shall be 
their duty on application by proper person, to administer the oaths in 
preliminary affidavits and final proofs required under the homestead, 
preemption, timber culture, and desert-land laws in their respective 
districts, in like manner as provided for in reference to United States 
circuit court commissioners, in the act of May twenty-sixth, eighteen 
hundred and ninety. Twenty-sixth Statutes at Large, page one hun- 
dred and twenty- one. 

Sec. 3. That no commissioner shall be appointed who resides within 
thirty miles of any local land office, nor shall any commissioner be 
appointed who resides within thirty miles of any other commissioner. 

Sec. 4. That this Act shall take effect from its passage. 

Approved, March 2, 1895. (28 Stat., 744.) 



[No. 65.1 

EXTENSION OF TIME TO SETTLERS. 

AN ACT making appropriations for current and contingent expenses of the Indian 
Department and fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the 
fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, and for other 
purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, 

* * # # # # # 

That the homestead settlers on the Absentee Shawnee, Pottawatomie, 
and Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian lands in Oklahoma Territory be, 
and they are hereby, granted an extension of one year within which to 
make the first payment provided for in section sixteen of the act of 
Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, 
entitled "An act making appropriations for the current and contingent 
expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations 



240 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

with various Indian tribes for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen 
hundred and ninety- two, and for other purposes," and such payment 
may be made at any time within five years from the date of the entry 
of such lands. And that the like extension of one year on the first 
payment required to be made, when payable in installments, is hereby 
granted to all homestead settlers on and purchasers of all ceded Indian 
reservatious in the States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, 
Montana, and Idaho. 

Approved, March 2, 1895. (28 Stat., 901.) 



[No. 66.] 

AMENDMENT OF SECTION 4, ACT OF MARCH 3, 1887, IN REGARD TO PRICE 
OP LAND PURCHASED THEREUNDER. 

Chap. 18. — AN ACT to amend section four of an act to provide for the adjustment 
of land grants made by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads and for 
the forfeiture of unearned lands, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section four of an act 
entitled "An act to provide for the adjustment of land grants made by 
Congress to aid in the construction of railroads and for the forfeiture of 
unearned lands, and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen 
hundred and eighty-seven, be, and the same is hereby, amended by 
adding thereto the following proviso: u Provided further, That where 
such purchasers, their heirs or assigns, have paid only a portion of the 
purchase price to the company, which is less than the Government price 
of similar lands, they shall be required, before the delivery of patent 
for their lands, to pay to the Government a sum equal to the difference 
between the portion of the purchase price so paid and the Government 
price, and in such case the amount demanded from the company shall 
be the amount paid to it by such purchaser." 

Approved, February 12, 1896. (29 Stat., 6.) 



[No. 67.] 

EXTENSION OF TIME TO BRING SUITS TO VACATE AND ANNUL LAND 
PATENTS, ISSUED UNDER RAILROAD OR WAGON ROAD GRANTS. 

Chap. 39. — AN ACT to provide for the extension of the time within which suits 
may he hrought to vacate and annul land patents, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That suits by the United States 
to vacate and annul any patent to lands heretofore erroneously issued 
under a railroad or wagon road grant shall only be brought within five 
years from the passage of this act, and suits to vacate and annul 
patents hereafter issued shall only be brought within six years after 
the date of the issuance of such patents, and the limitation of section 
eight of chapter five hundred and sixty-one of the acts of the second 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 241 

session of the Fifty-first Congress and amendments thereto is extended 
accordingly as to the patents herein referred to. But no patent to any 
lands held by a bona tide purchaser shall be vacated or annulled, but 
the right and title of such purchaser is hereby confirmed : Provided, 
That no suit shall be brought or maintained, nor shall recovery be had 
for lands or the value thereof, that were certified or patented in lieu of 
other lands covered by a grant which were lost or relinquished by the 
grantee in consequence of the failure of the Government or its officers 
to withdraw the same from sale or entry. 

Sec. 2. That if any person claiming to be a bona fide purchaser of 
any lands erroneously patented or certified shall present his claim to the 
Secretary of the Interior prior to the institution of a suit to cancel a 
patent or certification, and if it shall appear that he is a bona fide pur- 
chaser, the Secretary of the Interior shall request that suit be brought 
in such case against the patentee, or the corporation, company, person, 
or association of persons for whose benefit the certification was made, 
for the value of said land, which in no case shall be more than the 
minimum Government price thereof, and the title of such claimant 
shall stand confirmed. An adverse decision by the Secretary of the 
Interior on the bona fides of such claimant shall not be conclusive of 
his rights, and if such claimant, or one claiming to be a bona fide pur- 
chaser, but who has not, submitted his claim to the Secretary of the 
Interior, is made a party to such suit, and if found by the court to be a 
bona fide purchaser, the court shall decree a confirmation of the title, 
and shall render a decree in behalf of the United States against the 
patentee, corporation, company, person, or association of persons for 
whose benefit the certification was made for the value of the land as 
hereinbefore provided. Any bona fide purchaser of lands patented or 
certified to a railroad company, and who is not made a party to such 
suit, and who has not submitted his claim to the Secretary of the Inte- 
rior, may establish his right as such bona fide purchaser in any United 
States court having jurisdiction of the subject-matter, or at his option, 
as prescribed in sections three and four of chapter three hundred and 
seventy-six of the acts of the second session of the Forty-ninth 
Congress. 

Sec. 3. That if at any time prior to the institution of suit by the 
Attorney-General to cancel any patent or certification of lands erro- 
neously patented or certified a claim or statement is presented to the 
Secretary of the Interior by or on behalf of any person or persons, cor- 
poration or corporations, claiming that such person or persons, corpora- 
tion or corporations, is a bona fide purchaser or are bona fide purchasers 
of any patented or certified land by deed or contract, or otherwise, 
from or through the original patentee or corporation to which patent 
or certification was issued, no suit or action shall be brought to cancel 
or annul the patent or certification for said land until such claim is 
investigated in said Department of the Interior; and if it shall appear 
that such person or corporation is a bona fide purchaser as aforesaid, 
or that such persons or corporations are such bona fide purchasers, 
then no such suit shall be instituted and the title of such claimant or 
claimants shall stand confirmed; but the Secretary of the Interior shall 
request that suit be brought in such case against the patentee, or the 
corporation, company, person, or association of persons for whose bene- 
fit the patent was issued or certification was made for the value of the 
land as hereinbefore specified. 

Approved, March 2, 1896. (29 Stat., 42.) 
3073 16 



242 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[No. 68.] 

PRESENTING OF FINAL PROOFS, TIMBER-CULTURE CLAIMS. 
Chap. 40. — AN ACT relating to final proof in timber-culture entries. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Mouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That timber-culture claimants 
shall not be required, in making final proof, to appear at the land 
office to which proof is to be presented or before an officer designated 
by the act of May twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and.ninety, within the 
county in which the land is situated; but such claimant may have his 
or her personal evidence taken by a United States court commissioner 
or a clerk of any court of record under such rules and regulations as 
the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. 

Approved, March 4, 1896. (29 Stat., 43.) 



[No. 69.] 

NEW ORLEANS PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY MAY RELINQUISH LANDS 
IN FAVOR OF SETTLERS, AND MAKE SELECTIONS IN LIEU THEREOF. 

Chap. 98. — AN ACT for the relief of settlers upon lands within the indemnity limits 
of the grant to the New Orleans Pacific Railway Company. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That authority be, and is 
hereby, given the New Orleans Pacific Railroad to relinquish any lands 
within the indemnity limits of its grant, which by decision of the Land 
Department of the Government has been awarded it, in favor of any 
settler entitled to the right of entry under the laws of the United 
States who has been allowed to make entry thereof, or who has resided 
upon and improved the same for five years, and to select in lieu thereof 
an equal quantity of other lands, from any of the public lands not 
mineral, and within the limits of its grant and not otherwise appropri- 
ated at the date of selection, to which it shall receive title the same as 
though originally granted. 

Approved, April 14, 1896. (29 Stat., 91.) 



[So. 70.] 

CIRCUIT COURT COMMISSIONERS ABOLISHED AND OTHER COMMIS- 
SIONERS PROVIDED FOR, ETC. 

Chap. 252. — AN ACT making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and 
judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, 
eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, and for other purposes. 

* # # * * * . # 

Sec. 19. That the terms of office of all commissioners of the circuit 
courts heretofore appointed shall expire on the thirtieth day of June, 
eighteen hundred and ninety- seven; and such office shall on that day 
cease to exist, and said commissioners shall then deposit all the records 
and other official papers appertaining to their offices in the office of the 
clerk of the circuit court by which they were appointed. All proceed- 
ings pending, returnable, unexecuted, or unfinished at said date before 
any such commissioner shall be continued and disposed of according to 
law by such commissioner appointed as herein provided, as may be des- 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 243 

ignated by the district court for that purpose. It shall be the duty of 
the district court of each judicial district to appoint such number of 
persons, to be known as United States commissioners, at such places 
in the district as may be designated by the district court, which United 
States commissioners shall have the same powers and perform the same 
duties as are now imposed upon commissioners of the circuit courts. 
The appointment of such United States commissioners shall be entered 
of record in the district courts, and notice thereof at once given by the 
clerk to the Attorney-General. That such United States commission- 
ers shall hold their offices, respectively, for the term of four years, but 
they shall be at any time subject to removal by the district court; and 
no person shall at any time be a clerk or deputy clerk of a United 
States court and a United States commissioner without the approval of 
the Attorney-General: Provided, That all acts and parts of acts appli- 
cable to commissioners of the circuit courts, except as to appointment 
and fees, shall be applicable to United States commissioners appointed 
under this act. Warrants of arrest for violations of internal-revenue 
laws may be issued by United States commissioners upon the sworn 
complaint of a United States district attorney, assistant United States 
district attorney, collector or deputy collector of internal revenue, or 
revenue agent or private citizen, but no such warrant of arrest shall 
be issued upon the sworn complaint of a private citizen unless first 
approved in writing by a United States district attorney. That United 
States commissioners and all clerks of United States courts are hereby 
authorized to administer oaths. 

* ###### 

Approved, May 28, 1896. (29 Stat., 184.) 



[No. 71.] 

CONFIRMATION OF CERTAIN HOMESTEAD ENTRIES PREMATURELY 

COMMUTED, ETC. 

Chap. 312. — AN ACT relating to commutations of lioinestead entries, and to confirm 
such entries when commutation proofs were received by local land officers prema- 
turely. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That whenever it shall appear 
to the Commissioner of the General Land Office that an error has here- 
tofore been made by the officers of any local land office in receiving 
premature commutation proofs under the homestead laws, and that 
there was no fraud practiced by the entry man in making such proofs, 
and final payment has been made and a final certificate of entry has 
been issued to the entryman, and that there are no adverse claimants 
to the land described in the certificates of entry whose rights originated 
prior to making such final proofs, and that no other reason why the 
title should not vest in the entryman exists except that the commuta- 
tion was made less than fourteen months from the date of the homestead 
settlement, and that there was at least six months' actual residence in 
good faith by the homestead entryman on the land prior to such com- 
mutation, such certificates of entry shall be in all things confirmed to 
the entryman, his heirs, and legal representatives, as of the date of 
such final certificate of entry and a patent issue thereon; and the title 
so patented shall inure to the benefit of any grantee or transferee in 
good faith of such entryman subsequent to the date of such final cer- 



244 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

tificate : Provided, That this act shall not apply to coin mutation and 
homestead entries on which final certificates have been issued, and 
which have heretofore been canceled when the lands made vacant by 
such cancellation have been reentered under the homestead act. 

Sec. 2. That all commutations of homestead entries shall be allowed 
after the expiration of fourteen months from date of settlement. 

Sec. 3. That all acts and parts of acts in conflict with any of the 
provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 4. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after 
its passage and approval. 

Approved, June 3, 1896. (29 Stat., 197.) 



[No. 72. 



NESOTA, ALLOWED OTHER LANDS FOR CANCELED ENTRIES. 

Chap. 316. — AN ACT for the relief of settlers on the Northern Pacific Railroad 

indemnity lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That those persons, their heirs, 
or legal representatives, who, between the fifteenth day of August, anno 
Domini eighteen hundred and eighty- seven, and the first day of Janu- 
uary, anno Domini eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, settled upon and 
made final proof and entry, under the homestead or preemption laws, 
of lands within the so-called second indemnity belt of the Northern 
Pacific Railway Company's grant in the State of Minnesota, which 
entries were afterwards, without their fault, canceled, upon establish- 
ing the facts before the register and receiver of the local land office, 
in such mode and under such rules as may be prescribed by the Secre- 
retary of the Interior, shall be allowed to make final homestead entry, 
and receive a patent therefor, of a quantity of land of any of the unap- 
propriated public lands of the United States subject to homestead 
entry, equal in acreage to the land proved up and entered in the said 
second indemnity belt, as aforesaid, without being required to make 
any settlement or improvement upon or cultivation of such land so 
entered prior to such entry; and those persons, their heirs or legal 
representatives, who, within the period aforesaid for the space of six 
months settled upon, improved, and cultivated any of said indemnity 
lands with a view of entering the same under the homestead or pre- 
emption laws, being competent to make such entries, and who were not 
permitted to make such entries, upon establishing these facts before 
the register and receiver of the local land office, in such mode and under 
such rules as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe, shall be allowed 
to enter under the homestead laws of the United States a quantity of 
land of the unappropriated public lands of the United States, subject 
to homestead entry, equal in amount to the land settled upon, improved, 
and cultivated, as aforesaid, and under the homestead entry so made, 
shall, when making proof and final entry, receive credit for the settle- 
ment, improvement, and cultivation made upon the said indemnity land 
as aforesaid : Provided, That the law in force in eighteen hundred and 
eighty-nine governing the commutation of homestead entries shall apply 
to the commutation of entries under this section. 

Sec. 2. That those who are entitled to make the homestead entries 
prescribed in the preceding section may make such entries of any of 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 245 

the agricultural lands embraced in the provisions of an act entitled 
"An act for the relief and civilization of the Chippewa Indians in the 
State of Minnesota," approved January fourteenth, eighteen hundred 
and eighty-nine, upon condition of paying for such lands the price pre- 
scribed in said act. 

Sec. 3. That the right of homestead entry conferred by the provi- 
sions of this act shall not be assignable, and no conveyance, sale, or 
transfer of the land so entered shall be valid or of any effect if made 
before patent has issued. 

Approved, June 3, 1896. (29 Stat., 245.) 



[No. 73.] 

ENTRY OF LANDS IN GREER COUNTY, OKLAHOMA. 

Chap. 62. — AN ACT to j>rovide for the entry of lands in Greer County, Oklahoma, 
to give preference rights to settlers, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That every person qualified 
under the homestead laws of the United States, who, on March six- 
teenth, eighteen hundred and ninety- six, was a bona fide occupant 
of land within the territory established as Greer County, Oklahoma, 
shall be entitled to continue his occupation of such land with improve- 
ments thereon, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, and shall 
be allowed six months preference right from the passage of this act 
within which to initiate his claim thereto, and shall be entitled to per- 
fect title thereto under the provisions of the homestead law, upon pay- 
ment of land office fees only, at the expiration of five years from the 
date of entry, except that such person shall receive credit for all time 
during which he or those under whom he claims shall have continuously 
occupied the same prior to March sixteenth, eighteen hundred and 
ninety-six. Every such person shall also have the right, for six months 
prior to all other persons, to purchase at one dollar an acre, in five 
equal annual payments, any additional laud of which he was in actual 
possession on March sixteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, not 
exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, which, prior to said date, shall 
have been cultivated, purchased, or improved by him. When any per- 
son entitled to a homestead or additional land, as above provided, is 
the head of a family, and though still living, shall not take such home- 
stead or additional land, within six months from the passage of this 
act, any member of such family over the age of twenty-one years, 
other than husband or wife, shall succeed to the right to take such 
homestead or additional land for three months longer, and any such 
member of the family shall also have the right to take, as before pro- 
vided, any excess of additional land actually cultivated or improved 
prior to March sixteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six above the 
amount to which such head of the family is entitled, not to exceed one 
hundred and sixty acres to any one person thus taking as a member of 
such family. 

In case of the death of any settler who actually established residence 
and made improvement on land in said Greer County prior to March 
sixteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, the entry shall be treated 
as having accrued at the time the residence was established, and sec- 
tions twenty -two hundred and ninety-one and twenty- two hundred and 
ninety-two of the Revised Statutes shall be applicable thereto. 



246 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Any person entitled to such homestead or additional land shall have 
the right prior to January first, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, 
from the passage of this act to remove all crops and improvements he 
may have on land not taken by him. 

Sec. 2. That all land in said county not occupied, cultivated, or 
improved, as provided in the first section hereof, or not included within 
the limits of any town site or reserve, shall be subject to entry to actual 
settlers only, under the provisions of the homestead law. 

Sec. 3. That the inhabitants of any town located in said county shall 
be entitled to enter the same as a town site under the provisions of 
sections twenty-three hundred and eighty-seven, twenty-three hundred 
and eighty-eight, and twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine of the 
Revised Statutes of the United States: Provided, That all persons who 
have made or own improvements on any town lots in said county made 
prior to March sixteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, shall have 
the preference right to enter said lots under the provisions of this act 
and of the general town -site laws. 

Sec. 4. Sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six are reserved for 
school purposes as provided in laws relating to Oklahoma, and sections 
thirteen and thirty-three in each township are reserved for such pur- 
pose as the legislature of the future State of Oklahoma may prescribe. 
That whenever any of the lands reserved for school or other purposes 
under this act, or under the laws of Congress relating to Oklahoma, 
shall be found to have been occupied by actual settlers or for town-site 
purposes or homesteads prior to March sixteenth, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-six, an equal quantity of indemnity lands may be selected 
as provided by law. 

Sec. 5. That all lands which on March sixteenth, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-six, are occupied for church, cemetery, school, or other chari- 
table or voluntary purposes, not for profit, not exceeding two acres in 
each case, shall be patented to the proper authorities in charge thereof, 
under such rnles and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior shall 
establish, upon payment of the Government price therefor, excepting 
for school purposes. 

Sec. 6. That there shall be a land office established at Mangum, in 
said county, upon the passage of this act. 

Sec. 7. That the provisions of this act shall apply only to Greer 
County, Oklahoma, and that all laws inconsistent with the provisions 
of this act, applying to said territory in said county, are hereby 
repealed $ and all laws authorizing commutations of homesteads in 
Oklahoma shall apply to Greer County. 

Sec. 8. That this act shall take effect from its passage and approval. 

Approved, January 18, 1897. (29 Stat., 490.) 



[No. 74.J 
FORFEITED RAILROAD GRANTS— EXTENSION OF TIME TO PURCHASE. 

Chap. 250. — AN ACT to amend an act entitled a An act to forfeit certain lands here- 
tofore granted for the purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads, and for 
other purposes," approved September twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety, 
and the several acts amendatory thereof. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section three of an act 
entitled "An act to forfeit certain lands heretofore granted for the pur- 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 247 

pose of aiding in the construction of railroads, and for other purposes," 
approved September twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and 
the several acts amendatory thereof, be, and the same is, amended so 
as to extend the time within which persons entitled to purchase lands 
forfeited by said act shall be permitted to purchase the same, in the 
quantities and upon the terms provided in said section and the amend- 
ments thereto, at any time prior to January hrst, eighteen hundred and 
ninety-nine: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so con- 
strued as to interfere with any adverse claim that may have attached 
to the lands or any part thereof. 
Approved, February 18, 1897. (29 Stat., 535.) 



[No. 75.] 

EXTENSION OF TIME TO SETTLERS IN GREER COUNTY, OKLAHOMA. 

Chap. 8. — AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for the entry of 
lands in Greer County, Oklahoma, to give preference rights to settlers, and for 
other purposes," approved January eighteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
seven. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the time for the exercise 
of the preference right of entry granted to bona fide occupants of land 
within the territory established as Greer County, Oklahoma, by section 
one of an act entitled "An act to provide for the entry of lands in Greer 
County, Oklahoma, to give preference rights to settlers, and for other 
purposes," approved January eighteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
seven, be, and the same is hereby, extended to January first, eighteen 
hundred and ninety -eight. 

Approved, June 23, 1897. (30 Stat., 105.) 



[No. 76.] 

GRANTING RIGHT OF WAY FOR TRAMROADS, CANALS, ETC. 

Chap. 292. — AN ACT to amend an act to permit the use of the right of way through 
public lands for tramroads, canals, and reservoirs, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the act entitled "An act 
to permit the use of the right of way through the public lands for 
tramroads, canals, and reservoirs, and for other purposes," approved 
January twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, be, and the 
same is hereby, amended by adding thereto the following: 

"That the Secretary of the Interior be, and hereby is, authorized and 
empowered, under general regulations to be fixed by him, to permit the 
use of right of way upon the public lands of the United States, not 
within limits of any park, forest, military, or Indian reservations, for 
tramways, canals, or reservoirs, to the extent of the ground occupied 
by the water of the canals and reservoirs, and fifty feet on each side of 
the marginal limits thereof, or fifty feet on each side of the center line 
of the tramroad, by any citizen or association of citizens of the United 
States, for the purposes of furnishing water for domestic, public, and 
other beneficial uses. 

" Sec 2. That the rights of way for ditches, canals, or reservoirs 



248 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

heretofore or hereafter approved under the provisions of sections eight- 
een, nineteen, twenty, and twenty-one of the act entitled 'An act to 
repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes, 7 approved March 
third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, may be used for purposes of a 
public nature; and said rights of way may be used for purposes of 
water transportation, for domestic purposes, or for the development of 
power, as subsidiary to the main purpose of irrigation." 
Approved, May 11, 1898. (30 Stat., 404.) 



[No. 77.] 

LEGISLATION FOR ALASKA. 

AN ACT extending the homestead laws and providing for right of way for railroads 
in the District of Alaska, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the homestead land laws 
of the United States and the rights incident thereto, including the right 
to enter surveyed or unsurveyed lands under provisions of law relating 
to the acquisition of title through soldiers' additional homestead rights, 
are hereby extended to the District of Alaska, subject to such regula- 
tions as may be made by the Secretary of the Interior; and no indem- 
nity, deficiency, or lieu lands pertaining to any land grant whatsoever 
originating outside of said District of Alaska shall be located within 
or taken from lands in said District: Provided, That no entry shall be 
allowed extending more than eighty rods along the shore of any navi- 
gable water, and along such shore a space of at least eighty rods shall 
be reserved from entry between all such claims, and that nothing herein 
contained shall be so construed as to authorize entries to be made, or 
title to be acquired, to the shore of any navigable waters within said 
District: And it is further provided, That no homestead shall exceed 
eighty acres in extent. 

Sec. 2. That the right of way through the lands of the United States 
in the District of Alaska is hereby granted to any railroad company, 
duly organized under the laws of any State or Territory or by the 
Congress of the United States, which may hereafter file for record with 
the Secretary of the Interior a copy of its articles of incorporation, and 
due proofs of its organization under the same, to the extent of one 
hundred feet on each side of the center line of said road; also the right 
to take from the lands of the United States adjacent to the line of said 
road, material, earth, stone, and timber necessary for the construction 
of said railroad; also the right to take for railroad uses, subject to the 
reservation of all minerals and coal therein, public lands adjacent to 
said right of way for station buildings, depots, machine shops, side 
tracks, turn-outs, water stations, and terminals, and other legitimate 
railroad purposes, not to exceed in amount twenty acres for each station, 
to the extent of one station for each ten miles of its road, excepting at 
terminals and junction points, which may include additional forty acres, 
to be limited on navigable waters to eighty rods on the shore line, and 
with the right to use such additional ground as may in the opinion of 
the Secretary of the Interior be necessary where there are heavy cuts 
or fills : Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed 
as to give to such railroad company, its lessees, grantees, or assigns the 
ownership or use of minerals, including coal, within the limits of its 
right of way, or of the lands hereby granted: Provided further, That 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 249 

all mining operations prosecuted or undertaken within the limits of such 
right of way or of the lands hereby granted shall, under rules and regu- 
lations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, be so conducted 
as not to injure or interfere with the property or operations of the road 
over its said lauds or right of way. And when such railway shall con- 
nect with any navigable stream or tide water such company shall have 
power to construct and maintain necessary piers and wharves for con- 
nection with water transportation, subject to the supervision of the 
Secretary of the Treasury : Provided, That nothing in this act contained 
shall be construed as impairing in any degree the title of any State 
that may hereafter be erected out of said District, or any part thereof, 
to tide lands and beds of any of its navigable waters, or the right of 
such State to regulate the use thereof, nor the right of the United 
States to resume possession of such lands, it being declared that all 
such rights shall continue to be held by the United States in trust for 
the people of any State or States which may hereafter be erected out 
of said District. The term " navigable waters," as herein used, shall 
be held to include all tidal waters up to the line of ordinary high tide 
and all nontidal waters navigable in fact up to the line of ordinary 
high-water mark. That all charges for the transportation of freight 
and passengers on railroads in the District of Alaska shall be printed 
and posted as required by section six of an act to regulate commerce 
as amended on March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and 
such rates shall be subject to revision and modification by the Secretary 
of the Interior. 

Sec. 3. That any railroad company whose right of way, or whose 
track or roadbed upon such right of way, passes through any canyon, 
pass, or defile shall not prevent any other railroad company from the 
use and occupancy of said canyon, pass, or defile for the purposes of 
its roads, in common with the road first located, or the crossing of other 
railroads at grade; and the location of such right of way through any 
canyon, pass, or defile shall not cause the disuse of any tramway, 
wagon road, or other public highway now located therein, nor prevent 
the location through the same of any such tramway, wagon road, or 
highway where such tramway, wagon road, or highway may be neces- 
sary for the public accommodation ; and where any change in the loca- 
tion of such tramway, wagon road, or highway is necessary to permit 
the passage of such railroad through any canyon, pass, or defile, said 
railroad company shall, before entering upon the ground occupied by 
such tramway, wagon road, or highway, cause the same to be recon- 
structed at its own expense in the most favorable location, and in as 
perfect a manner as the original road or tramway: Provided, That such 
expenses shall be equitably divided between any number of railroad 
companies occupying and using the same canyon, pass, or defile, and 
that where the space is limited the United States district court shall 
require the road first constructed to allow any other railroad or tram- 
way to pass over its track or tracks through such canyon, pass, or defile 
on such equitable basis as the said court may prescribe; and all ship 
pers shall be entitled to equal accommodations as to the movement of 
their freight and without discrimination in favor of any person or 
corporation: Provided, That nothing herein shall be construed as 
depriving Congress of the right to regulate the charges for freight, 
passengers, and wharfage. 

Sec. 4. That where any company, the right of way to which is hereby 
granted, shall in the course of construction find it necessary to pass over 
private lands or possessory claims on lands of the United States, con- 



250 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

demnation of a right of way across the same may be made in accordance 
with section three of the act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 
'An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from 
the Missouri Kiver to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government 
the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes, approved 
July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-two,'" approved July second, 
eighteen hundred and sixty- four: Provided further, That any such 
company, by filing with the Secretary of the Interior a preliminary 
actual survey and plat of its proposed route, shall have the right at any 
time within one year thereafter, to file the map and profile of definite 
location provided for in this act, and such preliminary survey and plat 
shall, during the said period of one year from the time of filing the 
same, have the effect to render all the lands on which said preliminary 
survey and plat shall pass subject to such right of way. 

•Sec. 5. That any company desiring to secure the benefits of this act 
shall, within twelve months after filing the preliminary map of location 
of its road as hereinbefore prescribed, whether upon surveyed or unsur- 
veyed lands, file with the register of the land office for the district where 
such land is located a map and profile of at least a twenty mile section 
of its road or a profile of its entire road if less than twenty miles, as 
definitely fixed, and shall thereafter each year definitely locate and file 
a map of such location as aforesaid of not less - than twenty miles addi- 
tional of its line of road until the entire road has been thus definitely 
located, and upon approval thereof by the Secretary of the Interior the 
same shall be noted upon the records of said office, and thereafter all 
such lands over which such right of way shall pass shall be disposed of 
subject to such right of way : Provided, That if any section of said road 
shall not be completed within one year after the definite location of said 
section so approved, or if the map of definite location be not filed within 
one year as herein required, or if the entire road shall not be completed 
within four years from the filing of the map of definite location, the 
rights herein granted shall be forfeited as to any such uncompleted 
section of said road, and thereupon shall revert to the United States 
without further action or declaration, the notation of such uncompleted 
section upon the records of the land office shall be canceled, and the 
reservations of such lands for the purposes of said right of way, stations, 
and terminals shall cease and become null and void without further 
action. 

Sec. 6. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to 
issue a permit, by instrument in writing, in conformity with and sub- 
ject to the restrictions herein contained, unto any responsible person, 
company, or corporation, for a right of way over the public domain in 
said District, not to exceed one hundred feet in width, and ground for 
station and other necessary purposes, not to exceed five acres for each 
station for each five miles of road, to construct wagon roads and wire 
rope, aerial, or other tramways, and the privilege of taking all neces- 
sary material from the public domain in said District for the construc- 
tion of such wagon roads or tramways, together with the right, subject 
to supervision and at rates to be approved by said Secretary, to levy 
and collect toll or freight and passenger charges on passengers, animals, 
freight, or vehicles passing over the same for a period not exceeding 
twenty years, and said Secretary is also authorized to sell to the owner 
or owners of any such wagon road or tramway, upon the completion 
thereof, not to exceed twenty acres of public land at each terminus at 
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, such lands when located at or 
near tide water not to extend more than forty rods in width along the 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 251 

shore line and the title thereto to be upon such expressed, conditions as 
in his judgment may be necessary to protect the public interest, and 
all minerals, including' coal, in such right of way or station grounds 
shall be reserved to the United States: Provided, That such lands may 
be located concurrently with the line of such road or tramway, and the 
plat of preliminary. survey and the map of definite location shall be filed 
as in the case of railroads and subject to the same conditions and limi- 
tations: Provided further, That such rights of way and privileges shall 
only be enjoyed by or granted to citizens of the United States or com- 
panies or corporations organized under the' laws of a State or Territory; 
and such rights and privileges shall be held subject to the right of 
Congress to alter, amend, repeal, or grant equal rights to others on 
contiguous or parallel routes. And no right to construct a wagon road 
on which toll may be collected shall be granted unless it shall first be 
made to appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that 
the public convenience requires the construction of such proposed road, 
and that the expense of making the same available and convenient for 
public travel will not be less on an average than five hundred dollars 
per mile: Provided, That if the proposed line of road in any case shall 
be located over any road or trail in common use for public travel, the 
Secretary of the Interior shall decline to grant such right of way, if, 
in his opinion, the interests of the public would be injuriously affected 
thereby. Nor shall any right to collect toll upon any wagon road in 
said District be granted or inure to any person, corporation, or com- 
pany until it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of said Secre- 
tary that at least an average of five hundred dollars per mile has been 
actually expended in constructing such road; and all persons are pro- 
hibited from collecting or attempting to collect toll over any wagon 
road in said District, unless such person or the company or person for 
whom he acts shall at the time and place the collection is made or 
attempted to be made possess written authority, signed, by the Secretary 
of the Interior, authorizing the collection and specifying the rates of 
toll: Provided, That accurate printed copies of said written authority 
from the Secretary of the Interior, including toll, freight, and passenger 
charges thereby approved, shall be kept constantly and conspicuously 
posted at each station where toll is demanded, or collected. And any 
person, corporation, or company collecting or attempting to collect toll 
without such written authority from the Secretary of the Interior, or 
failing to keep the same posted as herein required, shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined for 
each offense not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dol- 
lars, and in default of payment of such fine and. costs of prosecution 
shall be imprisoned in jail not exceeding ninety days, or until such 
fine and costs of prosecution shall have been paid. 

That any person, corporation, or company qualified to construct a 
wagon road or tramway under the provisions of this act that may 
heretofore have constructed not less than one mile of road, at a cost of 
not less than five hundred dollars per mile, or one-half mile of tramway 
at a cost of not less than five hundred dollars; shall have the prior 
right to apply for such right of way and for lands at stations and ter- 
minals and to obtain the same pursuant to the provisions of this act 
over and along the line hitherto constructed or actually being improved 
by the applicant, including wharves connected therewith. That if any 
party to whom license has been granted to construct such wagon road 
or tramway shall, for the period of one year, fail, neglect, or refuse to 
complete the same, the rights herein granted shall be forfeited as to any 



252 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

such uncompleted section of said wagon road or tramway, and there- 
upon shall revert to the United States without further action or decla- 
ration, the notation of such uncompleted section upon the records of 
the land office shall be canceled, and the reservations of such lands for 
the purposes of said right of way shall cease and become null and void 
without further action. And if such road or tramway shall not be 
kept in good condition for use, the Secretary of the Interior may pro- 
hibit the collection of toll thereon pending the making of necessary 
repairs. 

That all mortgages executed by any company acquiring a right of 
way under this act, upon any portion of its road that may be con- 
structed in said District of Alaska, shall be recorded with the Secretary 
of the Interior, and the record thereof shall be notice of their execution, 
and shall be a lien upon all the rights and property of said company 
as therein expressed, and such mortgage shall also be recorded in the 
office of the secretary of the District of Alaska and in the office of the 
secretary of the State or Territory wherein such company is organized : 
Provided, That all lawful claims of laborers, contractors, subcontractors, 
or material men, for labor performed or material furnished in the con- 
struction of the railroad, tramway, or wagon road shall be a first lien 
thereon and take precedence of any mortgage or other lien. 

Sec. 7. That this act shall not apply to any lands within the limits 
of any military, park, Indian, or other reservation unless such right of 
way shall be provided for by act of Congress. 

Sec. 8. That Congress hereby reserves the right at any time to alter, 
amend, or repeal this act or any part thereof; and the right of way 
herein and hereby authorized shall not be assigned or transferred in 
any form whatever prior to the construction and completion of at least 
one- fourth of the proposed mileage of such railroad, wagon road, or 
tramway, as indicated by the map of definite location, except by mort- 
gages or other liens that may be ^iven or secured thereon to aid in the 
construction thereof: Provided, That where within ninety days after 
the approval of this act, proof is made to the satisfaction of the Secre- 
tary of the Interior that actual surveys, evidenced by designated monu- 
ments, were made, and the line of a railroad, wagon road or tramway 
located thereby, or that actual construction was commenced on the line 
of any railroad, wagon road or tramway, prior to January twenty-first, 
eighteen hundred and ninety eight, the rights to inure hereunder shall, 
if the terms of this act are complied with as to such railroad, wagon 
road or tramway, relate back to the date when such survey or construc- 
tion was commenced ; and in all conflicts relative to the right of way or 
other privilege of this act the person, company or corporation having 
been first in time in actual survey or construction, as the case may be, 
shall be deemed first in right. 

Sec. 9. That the map and profile of definite location of such railroad, 
wagon road, or tramway, to be filed as hereinbefore provided, shall, 
when the land passes over surveyed lands, indicate the location of the 
road by reference to section or other established survey corners, and 
where such line passes over unsurveyed lands the location thereon 
shall be indicated by courses and distances and by references to natural 
objects and permanent monuments in such manner that the location of 
the road may be readily determined by reference to descriptions given 
in connection with said profile map. 

Sec. 10. That any citizen of the United States twenty-one years of 
age, or any association of such citizens, or any corporation incorporated 
under the laws of the United States or of any State or Territory now 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 253 

authorized by law to hold lands in the Territories, hereafter in the 
possession of and occupying public lands in the District of Alaska in 
good faith for the purposes of trade, manufacture, or other productive 
industry, may each purchase one claim only not exceeding eighty acres 
of such laud for any one person, association, or corporation, at two dol- 
lars and fifty cents per acre, upon submission of proof that said area 
embraces improvements of the claimant and is needed in the prosecution 
of such trade, manufacture, or other productive industry, such tract 
of land not to include mineral or coal lands, and ingress and egress 
shall be reserved to the public on the waters of all streams, whether 
navigable or otherwise: Provided, That no entry shall be allowed 
under this act on lands abutting on navigable water of more than 
eighty rods: Provided farther, That there shall be reserved by the 
United States a space of eighty rods in width between tracts sold or 
entered under the provisions of this act on lands abutting on any 
navigable stream, inlet, gulf, bay, or seashore, and that the Secretary 
of the Interior may grant the use of such reserved lands abutting on 
the water front to any citizen or association of citizens, or to any cor- 
poration incorporated under the laws of the United States or under 
the laws of any State or Territory, for landings, and wharves, with 
the provision that the public shall have access to and proper use of 
such wharves, and landings, at reasonable rates of toll to be pre- 
scribed by said Secretary, and a roadway sixty feet in width, parallel 
to the shore line as near as may be practicable, shall be reserved for 
the use of the public as a highway: Provided further, That in case 
more than one person, association, or corporation shall claim the same 
tract of land, the person, association, or corporation having the prior 
claim, by reason of actual possession and continued occupation in good 
faith, shall be entitled to purchase the same, but where several persons 
are or may be so possessed of parts of the tract applied for the same 
shall be awarded to them according to their respective interests: Pro- 
vided further, That all claims substantially square in form and lawfully 
initiated, prior to January twenty-first, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
eight, by survey or otherwise, under sections twelve and thirteen of the 
act approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one (Twenty- 
sixth Statutes at Large, Chapter five hundred and sixty-one), may be 
perfected and patented upon compliance with the provisions of said 
act, but subject to the requirements and provisions of this act, except 
as to area, but in no case shall such entry extend along the water front 
for more than one hundred and sixty rods: And provided further, That 
the Secretary of the Interior shall reserve for the use of the natives of 
Alaska suitable tracts of land along the water front of any stream, inlet, 
bay, or sea shore for landing places for canoes and other craft used by 
such natives: Provided, That the Annette, Pribilof Islands, and the 
islands leased or occupied for the propagation of foxes be excepted from 
the operation of this act. 

That all affidavits, testimony, proofs, and other papers provided for 
by this act and by said act of March third, eighteen hundred and 
ninety-one, or by any departmental or Executive regulation thereunder, 
by depositions or otherwise, under commission from the register and 
receiver of the land office, which may have been or may hereafter be 
taken and sworn to anywhere in the United States, before any court, 
judge, or other officer authorized by law to administer an oath, shall 
be admitted in evidence as if taken before the register and receiver of 
the proper local land office. And thereafter such proof, together with 
a certified copy of the field notes and plat of the survey of the claim, 



254 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

shall be filed in the office of the surveyor- general of the District of 
Alaska, and if such survey and plat shall be approved by him, certified 
copies thereof, together with the claimant's application to purchase, 
shall be filed in the United States land office in the land district in which 
the claim is situated, whereupon, at the expense of the claimant, the 
register of such land office shall cause notice of snch application to be 
published for at least sixty days in a newspaper of general circulation 
published nearest the claim within the District of Alaska, and the 
applicant shall at the time of filing such field notes, plat, and applica- 
tion to purchase in the land office, as aforesaid, cause a copy of such 
plat, together with the application to purchase, to be posted upon the 
claim, and such plat and application shall be kept posted in a conspic- 
uous place on such claim continuously for at least sixty clays, and 
during such period of posting and publication or within thirty days 
thereafter any person, corporation, or association, having or asserting 
any adverse interest in, or claim to, the tract of land or any part 
thereof sought to be purchased, may file in the land office where such 
application is pending, under oath, an adverse claim setting forth the 
nature and extent thereof, and such adverse claimant shall, within 
sixty days after the filing of such adverse claim, begin action to quiet 
title in a court of competent jurisdiction within the District of Alaska, 
and thereafter no patent shall issue for such claim until the final adju- 
dication of the rights of the parties, and such patent shall then be 
issued in conformity with the final decree of the court. 

Sec. 11. That the Secretary of the Interior, under such rules and 
regulations as he may prescribe, may cause to be appraised the timber 
or any part thereof upon public lands in the District of Alaska, and 
may from time to time sell so much thereof as he may deem proper for 
not less than the appraised value thereof, in such quantities to each 
purchaser as he shall prescribe, to be used in the District of Alaska, 
but not for export therefrom. And such sales shall at all times be 
limited to actual necessities for consumption in the District from year 
to year, and payments for such timber shall be made to the receiver of 
public moneys of the local land office of the land district in which said 
timber may be sold, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary 
of the Interior may prescribe, and the moneys arising therefrom shall 
be accounted for by the receiver of such land office to the Commissioner 
of the General Land Office in a separate account, and shall be covered 
into the Treasury., The Secretary of the Interior may permit, under 
regulations to be prescribed by him, the use of timber found upon the 
public lands in said District of Alaska by actual settlers, residents, 
individual miners, and prospectors for minerals, for firewood, fencing, 
buildings, mining, prospecting, and for domestic purposes, as may 
actually be needed by such persons for such purposes. 

Sec. 12. That the President is authorized and empowered, in his 
discretion, by Executive order from time to time to establish or dis- 
continue land districts in the District of Alaska, and to define, modify, 
or change the boundaries thereof, and designate or change the location 
of any land office therein ; and he is also authorized and empowered to 
appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a register 
for each land district he may establish and a receiver of public moneys 
therefor; and the register and receiver appointed for such district 
shall, during their respective terms of office, reside at the place desig- 
nated for the land office. That the registers and receivers of public 
moneys in the land districts of Alaska shall each receive an annual 
salary of one thousand five hundred dollars and the fees provided by 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 255 

law for like officers in the State of Oregon, not to exceed, including 
such salary and lees, a total annual compensation of three thousand 
dollars for each of said officers. 

Sec. 13. That native-born citizens of the Dominion of Canada shall 
be accorded in said District of Alaska the same mining rights and 
privileges accorded to citizens of the United States in British Columbia 
and the Northwest Territory by the laws of the Dominion of Canada, or 
the local laws, rules, and regulations; but no greater rights shall be 
thus accorded than citizens of the United States or persons who have 
declared their intention to become such may enjoy in said District of 
Alaska ; and the Secretary of tbe Interior shall from time to time pro- 
mulgate and enforce rules and regulations to carry this provision into 
effect. 

Sec. 14. That under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the 
Secretary of the Treasury, the privilege of entering goods, wares, and 
merchandise in bond or of placing them in bonded warehouses at any 
of the ports in the District of Alaska, and of withdrawing the same for 
exportation to any place in British Columbia or the Northwest Terri- 
tory without payment of duty, is hereby granted to the Government of 
the Dominion of Canada and its citizens or citizens of the United States 
and to persons who have declared their intention to become such when- 
ever and so long as it shall appear to the satisfaction of the President 
of the United States, who shall ascertain and declare the fact by procla- 
mation, that corresponding privileges have been and are being granted 
by the Government of the Dominion of Canada in respect of goods, 
wares and merchandise passing through the territory of the Dominion 
of Canada to any point in the District of Alaska from any point in said 
District. 

Approved, May 14, 1898. (30 Stat., 409.) 



[No. 78.] 

DISTINCTION BETWEEN OFFERED AND UNOFFERED LANDS ABOLISHED 

IN CERTAIN CASES. 

Chap. 344. — AN ACT to abolish the distinction between offered and unoffered lands, 

and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That in cases arising from and 
after the passage of this act the distinction now obtaining in the statutes 
between offered and unoffered lands shall no longer be made in passing 
upon subsisting preemption claims, in disposing of the public lands 
under the homestead laws, and under the timber and stone law of June 
third, eighteen hundred and seventy- eight, as extended by the act of 
August fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, but in all such cases 
hereafter arising the land in question shall be treated as unoffered, with- 
out regard to whether it may have actually been at some time offered 
or not. 

Sec. 2. That all public lands within the State of Missouri shall here- 
after be subject tc disposal at private sale in the manner now provided 
by law for the sale of lands which have been publicly offered for sale, 
whether such lands have ever been offered at public sale or not: Pro- 
vided, That the actual settlers shall have a preference right, under such 
rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. 

Approved, May 18, 1898. (30 Stat,, 418.) 



256 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[No. 79.] 

MILITARY SERVICE OF SETTLER ENLISTED AS SOLDIER, ETC., TO BE 
EQUIVALENT TO RESIDENCE, ETC. 

Chap. 458. — AN ACT for the protection of homestead settlers who enter the military 
or naval service of the United States in time of war. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That in every case in which a 
settler on the public land of the United States under the homestead 
laws enlists or is actually engaged in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps 
of the United States as private soldier, officer, seaman, or marine, dur- 
ing the existing war with Spain, or during any other war in which the 
United States may be engaged, his services therein shall, in the admin- 
istration of the homestead laws, be construed to be equivalent to all 
intents and purposes to residence and cultivation for the same length 
of time upon the tract entered or settled upon ; and hereafter no con- 
test shall be initiated on the ground of abandonment, nor allegation of 
abandonment sustained against any such settler, unless it shall be 
alleged in the preliminary affidavit or affidavits of contest, and proved 
at the hearing in cases hereafter initiated, that the settler's alleged 
absence from the land was not due to his employment in such service: 
Provided, That if such settler shall be discharged on account of wounds 
received or disability incurred in the line of duty, then the term of his 
enlistment shall be deducted from the required length of residence 
without reference to the time of actual service: Provided further, That 
no patent shall issue to any homestead settler who has noi resided 
upon, improved, and cultivated his homestead for a period of at least 
one year after he shall have commenced his improvements. 

Approved, June 16, 1898. (30 Stat., 473.) 



[No.,80.] 

RELINQUISHMENT OF LAND WITHIN THE INDEMNITY LIMITS OF THE 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD GRANTS. 

Chap. 546. — AN ACT making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Gov- 
ernment for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
nine, and for other purposes. 

That where, prior to January first, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
eight, the whole or any part of an odd- numbered section, in either the 
granted or the indemnity limits of the land grant to the Northern 
Pacific Railroad Company, to which the right of the grantee or its law- 
ful successor is claimed to have attached by definite location or selec- 
tion, has been purchased directly from the United States or settled upon 
or claimed in good faith by any qualified settler under color of title or 
claim of right under any law of the United States or any ruling of the 
Interior Department, and where purchaser, settler, or claimant refuses 
to transfer his entry as hereinafter provided, the railroad grantee or its 
successor in interest, upon a proper relinquishment thereof, shall be 
entitled to select in lieu of the land relinquished an equal quantity of 
public lands, surveyed or unsurveyed, not mineral or reserved, and not 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 257 

valuable for stone, iron, or coal, and free from valid adverse claim or 
not occupied by settlers at the time of such selection, situated within 
any State or Territory into which such railroad grant extends, and 
patents shall issue for the land so selected as though it had been origi- 
nally granted; but all selections of unsurveyed lands shall be of odd- 
numbered sections, to be identified by the survey when made, and 
patent therefor shall issue to and in the name of the corporation sur- 
rendering the lands before mentioned, and such patents shall not issue 
until after the survey: Provided, however, That the Secretary of the 
Interior shall from time to time ascertain and, as soon as conveniently 
may be done, cause to be prepared and delivered to the said rail- 
road grantee or its successor iu interest a list or lists of the several 
tracts which have been purchased or settled upon or occupied as afore- 
said, and are now claimed by said purchasers or occupants, their heirs 
or assigus, according to the smallest Government subdivisions. And 
all right, title, and interest of the said railroad grantee or its successor 
in interest in and to any of such tracts, which the said railroad grantee 
or its successor in interest may relinquish hereunder shall revert to the 
United States, and such tracts shall be treated, under the laws thereof, 
in the same manner as if no rights thereto had ever vested in the said 
railroad grantee, and all qualified persons who have occupied and may 
be on said lands as herein provided, or who have purchased said lands 
in good faith as aforesaid, their heirs and assigns, shall be permitted 
to prove their titles to said lands according to law, as if said grant had 
never been made ; and upon such relinquishment said Northern Pacific 
Railroad Company or its lawful successor in interest may proceed to 
select, in the manner hereinbefore provided, lands in lieu of those relin- 
quished, and patents shall issue therefor: Provided further, That the 
railroad grantee or its successor in interest shall accept the said list 
or lists so to be made by the Secretary of the Interior as conclusive 
with respect to the particular lands to be relinquished by it, but it shall 
not be bound to relinquish lands sold or contracted by it or lands which it 
uses or needs for railroad purposes, or lands valuable for stone, iron, 
or coal : And provided further, That whenever any qualified settler 
shall in good faith make settlement in pursuance of existing law upon 
any odd-numbered sections of unsurveyed public lands within the said 
railroad grant to which the right of such railroad grantee or its suc- 
cessor in interest has attached, then upon proof thereof satisfactory to 
the Secretary of the Interior, and a due relinquishment of the prior 
railroad right, other lands may be selected in lieu thereof by said rail- 
road grantee or its successor in interest, as hereinbefore provided, and 
patents shall issue therefor: And provided further, That nothing herein 
contained shall be construed as intended or having the effect to recog- 
nize the Northern Pacific Railway Company as the lawful successor of 
the Northern Pacific Railroad Company in the ownership of the lands 
granted by the United States to the Northern Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany, under and by virtue of foreclosure proceedings against said 
Northern Pacific Railroad Company in the courts of the United States, 
but the legal question whether the said Northern Pacific Railway 
Company is such lawful successor of the said Northern Pacific Railroad 
Company, should the question be raised, shall be determined wholly 
without reference to the provisions of this Act, and nothing in this 
Act shall be construed as enlarging the quantity of land which the 
said Northern Pacific Railroad Company is entitled to under laws 
heretofore enacted: And provided further, That all qualified settlers, 
their heirs or assigns, who, prior to January first, eighteen hundred 
3073 17 



258 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

and ninety-eight, purchased or settled upon or claimed in good faith, 
under color of title or claim of right under any law of the United 
States or any ruling of the Interior Department, any part of an odd- 
numbered section in either the granted or indemnity limits of the land 
grant to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to which the right of 
such grantee or its lawful successor is claimed to have attached by 
definite location or selection, may in lieu thereof transfer their claims 
to an equal quantity of public lands surveyed or unsurveyed, not min 
eral or reserved, and not valuable for stone, iron, or coal, and free from 
valid adverse claim, or not occupied by a settler at the time of such 
entry, situated in any State or Territory into which such railroad grant 
extends, and make proof therefor as in other cases provided; and m 
making such proof, credit shall be given for the period of their -bona 
fide residence and amount of their improvements upon their respective 
claims in the said granted or indemnity limits of the land grant to the 
said Northern Pacific Eailroad Company the same as if made upon the 
tract to which the transfer is made; and before the Secretary of 
the Interior shall cause to be prepared and delivered to said railroad 
grantee or its successor in interest any list or lists of the several tracts 
which have been purchased or settled upon or occupied as hereinbefore 
provided, he shall notify the purchaser, settler, or claimant, his heirs 
or assigns, claiming against said railroad company, of his right to 
transfer his entry or claim, as herein provided, and shall give him or 
them option to take lieu lands for those claimed by him or them or hold 
his claim and allow the said railroad company to do so under the terms 
of this act. 

Approved, July 1, 1898. (30 Stat., 620.) 



[No. 81.] 

ADDITIONAL LEGISLATION IN REGARD TO LANDS IN GREER COUNTY, 

OKLAHOMA. 

AN ACT to amend section one of an Act to provide for the entry of lands in Greer 
Comity, Oklahoma Territory, to give preference right to settlers, and for other 
purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Bouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That section one of an act to 
give preference right to settlers in Greer County, Oklahoma Territory, 
is hereby so amended as to allow parties who have had the benefit of the 
homestead laws of the United States, and who had purchased lands in 
Greer County from the State of Texas prior to March sixteenth, eighteen 
hundred and ninety-six, to perfect titles to said lands according to the 
provisions of section one hereinbefore mentioned, under such regula- 
tions as the Commissioner of the General Land Office may prescribe, 
and according to the legal subdivisions of the public surveys, if no 
adverse rights have attached: Provided, That no settler shall be per- 
mitted to acquire to exceed three hundred and twenty acres under this 
provision. 

Approved, March 1, 1899 (30 Stat., 966). 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 259 

[No. 82.] 
SOLDIERS' ADDITIONAL ENTRIES, CIRCULAR FEBRUARY 18, 1890. 

Department of the Interior, 

General Land Office, 
Washington, D. 0., February 18, 1890. 
Registers and Eeceivers, 

United States Land Offices. 
Gentlemen: Where parties apply to make entries under section 
2306, United States Eevised Statutes, claiming, by virtue of service in 
the army or navy of the United States during the late civil war, and 
of having made a homestead entry for less than 160 acres, prior to the 
22d of June, 1874, and the right claimed is not certified by this office, 
after examination, under circular of May 17, 1877, and the certificate 
presented to you in support of the claim, I have to direct that before 
taking final action on the claim, you forward the papers to this office 
for examination in connection with the official records, after making the 
notations on your records necessary to show the pendency of the appli- 
cation, and the consequent segregation of the laud, so as to prevent 
any adverse appropriation before the application is finally acted upon, 
and await instructions before taking any further action in the case. 
Yery respectfully, 

Lewis H. Groff, 

Commissioner. 



[No. 83. 



SOLDIERS' ADDITIONAL ENTRIES, CIRCULAR DECEMBER 4, 1896, 

referring to circular february 18, 1890. 

Department of the Interior, 

General Land Office, 
Washington, D. C, December 4, 1896. 
Registers and Receivers, 

United States Land Offices. 

Gentlemen : Your attention is called to circular letter of February 
18, 1 890 (copy herewith), in regard to soldiers' additional homestead 
entries, the existence of which is in some instances being disregarded 
or overlooked. 

Under said circular you were directed not to allow applications for 
soldiers' additional entries under section 2306, Revised Statutes, to goto 
record when unaccompanied by certificates issued by the Commissioner 
of the General Land Office, certifying the right of the soldier to make 
additional entry for a specific amount of land. 

Your attention is also called to the circular of October 16, 1894 (copy 
herewith), in regard to certificates of right recertified by this office, 
under the act of August 18, 1891 (28 Stat., 397), in the names of assign- 
ees of soldiers. 

You are authorized to allow an entry to go to record when a certificate 
in the name of the soldier, or a recertified certificate in the name of the 
assignee of the soldier, is presented for location. But whenever an appli- 
cation to make additional entry under section 2306, Revised Statutes, 
not to locate a certificate, is made either by the soldier in person or by 



260 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

his assignee, who must file evidence of the alleged assignment, you will 
make the necessary notations on your records and transmit the applica- 
tion to this office for examination with the official records as directed in 
said letter of February 18, 1890, and await further instructions. 

With regard to the location of certificates recertified under the act 
of August 18, 1894, the present owner thereof must be connected with 
the soldier. Therefore, in the allowance of such locations final papers 
must be issued in the name of the present owner of the certificate, the 
one who applies to locate the same, as assignee of the soldier, not of 
another, whether the name of said present owner appears in the certifi- 
cate as the immediate assignee of the soldier, or whether his owner ship 
is shown by subsequent assignments. 

When a certificate is presented for location which has not been recer- 
tified under said act of August 18, 1891, the final papers should be 
issued in the name of the soldier, whoever may be the owner thereof. 
Yery respectfully, 

E. F. Best, 
Assistant Commissioner. 



[No. 84.] 

PREEMPTIONS. 

The laws which provided for preemptions on the public lands of the 
United States were repealed by the fourth section of the act of March 
3, 1891 (26 Stat., 1095; Appendix No. 44, p. 221), which reads as fol- 
lows, viz: 

Sec. 4. That chapter four of title thirty-two, excepting sections twenty-two hun- 
dred and seventy-live, twenty-two hundred and seventy-six, twenty-two hundred 
and eighty-six, of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and all other laws 
allowing preemption of the public lands of the United States, are hereby repealed; 
but all bona fide claims lawfully initiated before the passage of this act, under any 
of said provisions of law so repealed, may be perfected upon due compliance with 
law, in the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and subject to the 
same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if this act had not been passed. 

For information regarding the conditions on which bona fide claims 
lawfully initiated before the passage of the repealing act may be per- 
fected, the following instructions are presented, viz: 

Preemption is the exercise of a right by a person possessing the qualifi- 
cations required by statute who has made settlement in person on public 
land subject to preemption, not exceeding 160 acres, inhabited and 
improved it, and erected a dwelling thereon, to obtain title in preference 
to any other, by entry and purchase at the price at which the land is 
held. 

CLASS OF LANDS SUBJECT TO PREEMPTION. 

Public lands of the United States to which the Indian title has been 
extinguished and which are not included in any reservation by any 
treaty, law, or proclamation of the President, for any purpose; which 
are not included within the limits of any incorporated town or selected 
as the site of a city or town ; which are not actually settled upon nor 
occupied for purposes of trade and business and not for agriculture, 
and on which there are not situated any known mines or salines are 
subject to preemption. (Sec. 2258, Eev. Stat. ; Appendix No. 1, p, 146.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 261 

QUALIFICATIONS OF PREEMPTORS. 

A preemptor must be the head of a family, a widow, or single person 
over the age of 21 years and a citizen of the United States, or one who 
has declared his intention to become a citizen, as provided by the natu- 
ralization laws. 

No person can acquire any right of preemption who is the proprietor 
of 320 acres of laud in any State or Territory, nor who quits or aban- 
dons his residence on his own land to reside on the public land in the 
same State or Territory. 

PROCEEDINGS TO ACQUIRE TITLE TO LAND BY PREEMPTION. 

A party desiring to preempt a tract of land should carefully and in 
person examine the land, be certain of its true description according 
to the public surveys, and satisfy himself as to its character and desira- 
bility for purposes of residence and cultivation, and that there is no 
other valid claim to it. He is bound to personally know the land he 
claims, and any mistakes that might have been avoided with proper 
diligence are at his own risk. 

Having selected the land he proposes to claim, he should move upon 
it and make an actual settlement thereon in person. He must go in 
person upon the land and perform substantial acts as a bona fide actual 
settler thereon before he can acquire any right as a preemptor. 

When he has done this he may file his declaratory statement in the 
district land office. This may be done in person or through the mails, 
but he can not file a declaratory statement before he has actually set- 
tled upon the land. Illegal filings resulting from the willful fault or 
gross negligence of the preemptor exhaust the preemption right. 

A filing without actual settlement is illegal, and no rights are acquired 
thereby, although a subsequent bona fide settlement maybe recognized 
if made before the intervention of a valid adverse claim and duly fol- 
lowed up by the proper inhabitancy and improvement. 

If the land is " offered," his declaratory statement must be filed 
within thirty days after he becomes a settler on the land. (Form No. 
4-534, p. 272.) 

If the land is surveyed and "unoffered," he has three months after 
becoming a settler on the land within which to make his filing. (Form 
No. 4-535, p. 272.) 

Settlers on unsurveyed land have three months after the plat of 
township survey is filed in the district land office within which to put 
their claims on record. 

Failure to file a declaratory statement within the time prescribed 
makes the land liable to the claim of an adverse settler who does file 
notice of his intention at the proper time and otherwise complies with the 
conditions of the law. (Sec. 2265, Eev. Stat. ; Appendix No. 1, p. 148.) 

The declaratory statement must describe the land settled upon, state 
the date of settlement, and declare the intention of the party to claim 
the same under the preemption laws. The declaratory statement must 
be in writing or printed according to the prescribed form and be wit- 
nessed by not less than two persons who live in the neighborhood of 
the land. The place of residence of claimant's witnesses and the post- 
offiee address of claimant must be stated in the declaration. 

The existence of a preemption filing on a tract of land does not pre- 
vent anotner filing for the same land, subject to any valid rights 
acquired by virtue of any former settlement and filing. 

The land office fee for filing a declaratory statement is $2, except in 
the Pacific States and Territories, where the fee is $3. 



262 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

SECOND PREEMPTION FILINGS. 

The second filing of a declaratory statement by any preemptor who 
was qualified at the date of his first filing is illegal. (Sec. 2261, Kev. 
Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 147; Baldwin v. Stark, 107 U. S., 463; also 
Secretary's decision of February 27, 1884, case of Raymond, 10 Copp, 
395.) Where the first filing, however, was illegal from any cause not 
the willful act of the party, he has the right to make a second and legal 
filing. (Goist v. Bottum, 5 L. D., 643.) And the right to make a 
second filing will be recognized when through no fault or negligence of 
the preemptor, consummation of title was not practicable under the 
first, (Paris Meadows et al., 9 L. D., 41.) 

RELINQUISHMENT OF PREEMPTION FILINGS. 

Preemption filings may be relinquished by the claimants in writing, 
filed with the register and receiver of the proper district land office, or 
the relinquishment may be executed by the claimant on the back of the 
declaratory statement receipt. Notice of such relinquishment should 
be promptly forwarded by the register to the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office for his information. 

PROOF AND PAYMENT. 

On offered lands proof and payment must be made within twelve 
months from date of settlement. 

If the land is unoffered proof and payment may be made within thirty- 
three months from date of settlement, or in case of unsurveyed lands 
from date of filing plat of survey in the district office. 

The preemption laws are intended for the benefit of persons making 
settlement upon the public lands, followed by residence and improve- 
ment and the erection of a dwelling thereon. Kesidence must be both 
continuous and personal. (Bohall v. Dilla, 114 U. S. Supreme Court 
Eeports, 47, 51.) 

" It was necessary for the preemptor to prove that he occupied the 
premises continuously after filing his declaratory statement.'' (Ibid.) 

The Department requires, in evidence of the genuineness of settle- 
ment, that six months of actual residence shall be passed before proof 
and payment, and then proof of compliance with law in all respects 
must be sufficient and satisfactory. A party offer iug proof in the 
shortest time can not be excused on that account for any non-compliance 
with the requirements of residence and agricultural improvement, since 
he is not obliged to make proof and payment at the earliest period the 
law allows, but has sufficient time within which to fully comply with 
the law. 

A failure to make proof and payment as prescribed by law renders 
the land subject to appropriation by the first legal applicant, but in the 
absence of an adverse claim proof and payment can be made after the 
expiration of the twelve or thirty- three months allowed. 

Failure to inhabit and improve the land in good faith, as required by 
law, renders the claim subject to contest and the entry to investigation 
and cancellation. 

Final proof in preemption cases must be made to the satisfaction of 
the register and receiver, whose decision, as in other cases, is subject 
to examination and review by this office and Department. 

When two or more settlers on unsurveyed land are found upon sur- 
vey to be residing upon or to have valuable improvements upon the 






TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 263 

same smallest legal subdivision, they may make joint entry of such 
tract and separate entries of the residue of their claims. This joint 
entry may be made in pursuance of contract between the parties or 
without it, (Eev. Stat., sec. 2274; Appendix No. 1, p. 149.) 

Publication of notice to make proof is required in the same manner 
as in homestead and other cases. (See "Final proof," p. 14, and "Pub- 
lication of notice of final proof," p. 83.) 

In making final proof the preemptor must appear in person with his 
witnesses at the district office, or before the clerk of the county court or 
of a court of record of the county or parish and State, or district and 
Territory, in which the land is situated, or before any United States 
commissioner appointed under act of May 28, 1896 (appendix No. 70, 
p. 242) having jurisdiction over such county or parish, and make the 
affidavit and proof prescribed, or in Territories the proof may be made 
before a United States court commissioner as provided by act of March 
2, 1895. (See Appendix No. 64, p. 239.) 

It is held, however, that "the law does not authorize the making of 
such proofs and affidavits before such commissioner outside of the 
county and State, or district and Territory, in which the lands are situ- 
ated, unless the lands are situated in an unorganized county, which 
case is otherwise fully provided for by law." (Secretary's decision of 
October 2, 1890, case of Edward Bowker, II L. D., 361.) 

The preemptor is required to make oath that he has not previously 
exercised his preemption right; that he is not the owner of 320 acres 
of land; that he has not settled upon and improved the land to sell the 
same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his own 
exclusive use; that he has not made any contract or agreement, directly 
or indirectly, in any way or manner, with any person whomsoever, by 
which the title he may acquire from the United States shall inure in 
whole or in part to the benefit of any person except himself. (See 
Form 4-061, p. 273.) 

Any person swearing falsely forfeits all right to the land and to the 
purchase money paid, besides being liable to prosecution under the crim- 
inal laws of the United States. 

Final proof, in addition to the affidavit of claimant, must consist of 
the testimony of the claimant, corroborated by that of at least two wit- 
nesses, taken separately, to the facts constituting his qualifications, and 
his compliance with law as to settlement, inhabitancy, improvement, 
nonalienation, etc. (Rev. Stat., sec. 2263; Appendix No. 1, p. 148; Form 
4-374, p. 273.) 

The exact date of beginning and of ending of each and of every 
absence from the land should be particularly stated, and the reasons 
therefor fully given, so as to enable the Department to determine as to 
the sufficiency of the explanation. 

The affidavit of claimant, his testimony, and the testimony of his 
witnesses, and the nonmineral affidavit (where required) must be made 
at the same time and place and before the same officer. 

No other officer than the register or receiver, or the judge or clerk of 
a court of record of the county or parish in which the land is situated, 
or a United States commissioner appointed under act of May 28, 1896 
(appendix No. 70, p. 242) having jurisdiction over such county or parish 
can take proofs in preemption cases, except that when the land is in an 
unorganized county the proofs may be made before the same officers m 
an adjacent county in the same State or Territory. (Sec. 2263, Rev. 
Stat,; Appendix No. 1, p. 148, act of June 9, 1880, 21 Stat., 169, Ap- 
pendix No. 19, o. 178; circular, March 30. 1886, 4 L. D., 473; act of May 
26, 1890, 26 Stat,, 121; Appendix No. '^S, p. 213). 



264 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

EXTENSION OF TIME FOR PAYMENT. 

In reference to the joint resolution of September 30, 1890, and act of 
July 26, 1894, providing- therefor, see pages 10 and 230. 

LEAVES OF ABSENCE. 

In reference to statutes allowing leaves of absence in certain cases, 
see pages 16-18. 

ASSIGNEE OF A PREEMPTOR BEFORE PATENT. 

An assignee of a preemptor before patent has no claim upon the 
United States for the land nor for the money paid, in event of the fail- 
ure of the claim and cancellation of the entry for fraud or false swear- 
ing by entryman. (Sec. 2262, Eev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 147.) 

HEIRS OF A DECEASED PREEMPTOR. 

Should a preemptor die without establishing his claim within the 
period limited by law, the title may be perfected by the executor, admin- 
istrator, or one of the heirs, by making the requisite proof of settle- 
ment and paj'ing for the land, the entry to be made in the name of "the 
heirs" of the deceased settler, and the patent will be issued accord- 
ingly. The legal representatives of the deceased preemptor are enti- 
tled to make the entry at any time within the period during which the 
preemptor would have been entitled to do so had he lived. (Rev. Stat., 
sec. 2269; Appendix No. 1, p. 149.) 

PREEMPTION CLAIMANTS WHO BECOME INSANE. 

The rights of a preemption claimant who has become insane may, 
under act of June 8, 1880, be proved up and his claim perfected by any 
person duly authorized to act for him during his disability. (21 Stat., 
166; Appendix No. 18, p. 177.) 

Such claim must have been initiated in full compliance with law, by 
a person who was a citizen or had declared his intention of becoming a 
citizen, and was in other respects duly qualified. 

The party for whose benefit the act shall be invoked must have become 
insane subsequently to the initiation of his claim. 

Claimant must have complied with the law up to the time of becom- 
ing insane; and proof of compliance will be required to cover only the 
period prior to such insanity; but the act will not be construed to cure 
a failure to comply with the law when the failure occurred prior to such 
insanity. 

The final proof must be made by a party whose authority to act for 
the insane person during his disability shall be duly certified under 
seal of the proper probate court. 

PRICE OF LAND TO PREEMPTORS. 

The price of land to a preemptor upon "minimum" lands — i. e., lands 
not within the limits of a grant to a railroad or some other work of 
internal improvement— is $1.25 per acre. Within the limits of such 
grant the price is $2.50 per acre; but settlers, prior to withdrawal, are 
allowed to enter at $1.25 per acre, provided they shall file notice of 
their claims and make proof and payment as in other cases. (Rev. 
Stat., sees. 2257, 2259, 2279, 2281, 2357; Appendix No. 1, pp. 146, 147, 151, 
and 158.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 265 

[No. 85.] 

SUSPENDED ENTRIES — RULES AND REGULATIONS — BOARD OF 
EQUITABLE ADJUDICATION. 

Under the act of Congress approved August 3, 184G, entitled "An 
act providing for the adjustment of all suspended preemption land 
claims in the several States and Territories," the following general 
equitable rules and regulations were established for the government of 
the Commissioner of the General Land Office: 

The Commissioner will recognize as valid and place in the first class, 
suspended entries of the following description: 

1. All preemption entries in which one or more legal requirements do 
not appear in the papers because of the neglect or inattention of the 
land officers, but where the existing testimony shows a substantial and 
bona fide settlement and improvement of the lauds; or where such. facts 
were satisfactorily shown to the local officers by proof which was lost in 
transmission to the General Land Office and can not now be renewed 
by reason of the death of witnesses, or other cause. 

2. All preemption entries under the acts of 12th April, 1814, 29th 
May, 1830, 5th April, 1832, 19th June, 1834, 22d June, 1838, and 1st 
June, 1840, which have been allowed in the name of assignees, instead 
of the preemptors themselves, where the claim is bona fide, and the 
assignees or subsequent purchasers are in possession. 

3. All entries in virtue of "floats," under the acts of 29th May, 1830, 
and 19th June, 1834, where the original settlement (from which the 
"float" was derived) was bona fide and had been actually entered, but 
where such original settlement was on land reserved for private claims 
the survey of which had not been returned at the time of entry; and 
also all entries by such "floats" on land liable to sale, where the "float" 
entries had been made prior to the return of the official plat of survey 
for the original settlement. 

4. Entries allowed by preemption on "sketch maps" (obtained by the 
parties) before the return of the regular approved plat of the township 
embracing the land. 

5. All entries allowed by preemption on land which was reserved at 
the date of the preemption act, but which was released from reservation 
before the expiration of said act, where such entries are in other respects 
regular. 

6. Preemption entries under laws requiring actual residence on pub- 
lic land, in which the residence was found to be on private property, 
but where the tract entered formed a substantial part of the farm of 
the claimant, and was improved and cultivated by him at the period 
required for residence. 

7. Preemption entries of legal subdivisions of a fractional section 
which contain more than 160 acres, but which are as near that quantity 
as the existing subdivisions will allow. 

8. Preemption entries allowed under one preemption law, where it 
shall have been discovered that said entries are invalid under that 
act, but where the settlement and improvement is of a character to 
have entitled the parties to a legal and valid claim under a subsequent 
law, provided the land is not embraced by the valid claim of another. 

9. Preemption entries in the mineral region embracing the half of a 
quarter section reserved for mineral purposes where the half quarter 
so entered is shown not to have contained mineral, and also entries as 
"floats," allowed to the claimants, who, by reason of one portion of the 
quarter section on which they were settled containing mineral, were 



266 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

unable to enter more than the half of said quarter section, provided the 
claim is otherwise a bona fide one. 

10. Preemption entries founded upon a bona fide right of preemption, 
where, as it respects the mode ana manner of the entry, there is not a 
strict conformity with the law, but where such entry does not embrace 
a quantity exceeding that allowed by law, is in accordance with the 
wish of the party or parties interested and does not interfere with the 
rights or interests of another. 

11. All private sales of tracts which have not been previously offered 
at public sale, but where the entry appears to have been permitted by 
land officers under the impression that the land was liable to private 
entry, and there is no reason to presume fraud, or to believe that the 
purchase was made otherwise than in good iaith. 

12. All sales made at one land office of lands which were only liable 
to sale at another where the proceedings in all other respects were 
regular. 

13. All bona fide entries on lands which had been once offered, but 
afterwards temporarily withdrawn from market, and then released from 
reservatioD, where such lands are not rightfully claimed by others. 

14. All bona fide entries at private sale, allowed at Mineral Point, 
Wis., and fully paid for, of lands which were not ascertained or reported 
to contain lead mineral until after the date of said entries, where the 
land is not rightfully claimed by another. 

The foregoing regulations are not to embrace any case where the 
entry has been canceled or desired by the party, or where a subsequent 
entry of the same land has been legally made by the claimant himself, 
or by another person. 

James L. Piper, 
Acting Commissioner of the General Land Office. 

We concur in these rules and regulations, October 3, 1846. 

R. J. Walker, 
Secretary of the Treasury. 
J. Y. Mason, 

Attorney- General. 



[Rule 15, having become obsolete, is omitted.] 

# ■ # * # * # # 

Under the act of Congress approved 3d of March, 1853, reviving and 
continuing in force the act of 3d of August, 1846, the following rule 
was established for the government of the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office: 

16. That all locations under the act of 14th August, 1848, entitled 
"An act in relation to military land warrants,' 7 be confirmed, and pat- 
ents issued thereon, where the land located lies in one body, and the 
only objection to the location is, that it consists, technically, of more 
than one legal subdivision. 

John Wilson, 

Commissioner. 



We concur in this rule, 16th March, 1854. 



R. McClelland, 
Secretary of the Interior. 
C. CusHiNa, 

A ttorney- General. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 267 

Department of the Interior, 



"i 
General Land Office 



Washington, D. C, April 25, 1877. 

Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith, for your concurrence and 
that of the honorable Attorney-General, a set of rules to govern me in 
submitting for confirmation, under section 2450 of the Kevised Statutes 
of the United States, entries suspended for various causes, but which, 
upon principles of equity and justice, should be confirmed. 

Authority to confirm suspended entries of the public lands was first 
vested in the Secretary of the Treasury, Attoruey-General, and Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office by act of Congress of August 3, 
1846, and revised and extended by acts of 3d of March, 1853, and 26th 
of June, 1856. 

Under these acts, from time to time, sixteen rules have been estab- 
lished, the last March 16, 1854. (See 1 Lester, Land Laws, 482, title 5.) 

Since then the different homestead acts have been passed, and new 
classes of suspended entries Under the preemption laws have arisen. I 
have prepared eleven new rules, from Nos. 17 to 27, inclusive. I find 
that many of the old established rules are obsolete. 

Cases in each of the classes mentioned, except class 22, have been 
confirmed under section 2450 of the Kevised Statutes. 

It is believed that these classes will cover all agricultural entries 
falling under general rules. 

Special cases not covered by these rules, in which equitable relief 
should be afforded, will probably arise. Such cases will be submitted 
as special, with letters of explanation. 

I respectfully request that if you should approve the accompanying 
rules you will submit them to the Honorable Attorney-General for his 
concurrence. 

J. A. Williamson, 

Commissioner. 
-Hon. Carl Schurz, 

Secretary of the Interior. 



Department of the Interior, 

Office of the Secretary, 
Washington, D. C, May 18, 1877. 
Sir: I return herewith, approved by the Attorney-General and my- 
self, the additional rules transmitted with your letter of the 25th ultimo, 
numbered from 17 to 27, inclusive, to govern your office in the disposal 
of suspended entries of public lands under various laws. 
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

C. Schurz, Secretary. 
Hon. J. A. Williamson, 

Commissioner General Land Office. 



ADDITIONAL RULES. 

Under section 2450 of the Revised Statutes of the United States the 
following rules, additional to those established under the act of August 
3, 1846, are provided for the government of the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office : 

17. All entries where the preemption affidavit was taken before an 
officer authorized to administer oaths, when, on account of bodily 
infirmity, the party can not appear at the local office. 



268 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

18. All entries where the preemption affidavit was taken before some 
officer other than the register or receiver, and the preemptor died before 
the defect could be cured. 

19. All entries made upon land appropriated by entry or selection, 
but which entry or selection was subsequently canceled for illegality. 

20. Preemption entries in which the party has shown good faith, but 
did not, through ignorance of the law, declare his intention to become 
a citizen of the United States until after he made his entry. 

21. All entries based upon preemption proof where the party had 
failed to file a declaratory statement therefor, provided no adverse claim 
attached prior to entry. 

22. All entries of unofTered land, based upon a second declaratory 
statement, where the same was filed between June 22, 1874, and June 
30, 1875. 

23. All preemption entries in which the affidavit is defective in not 
showing that the party was not the owner of 320 acres of land in any 
State or Territory, and had never had the benefit of the act, the form 
for which affidavit was furnished by the local land office. 

24. All homestead entries in which, by reason of ignorance of the 
law, sickness of the party or his family, the final proof was not made 
within the period prescribed by statute, but in other respects the law 
has been complied with. 

25. All homestead entries in which the party failed to settle on the 
land within the time required by law by reason of physical disability, 
and where good faith is shown. 

26. All homestead entries by mistake made in the name of the wrong 
party, but where on final proof the error may be corrected without 
prejudice to another's right. 

27. In all homestead entries where the husband has deserted his wife 
and children, if he have any, who have in good faith complied with the 
homestead law by residence upon and cultivation of the land, and final 
proof shall be made by the wife, or in case of her death, by her heirs or 
their legal guardians, such entry shall be confirmed, and patent shall 
issue to the parties entitled thereto. 

J. A. Williamson, 
Commissioner General Land Office. 

We concur in the above rules, May 8, 1877. 

C. SCHURZ, 

Secretary of the Interior. 
Chas. Devens, 
Attorney- General. 



Department of the Interior, 

General Land Office, 
Washington, 1). C, April 28, 1888. 
The following rules are hereby established, with the concurrence of 
the Secretary of the Interior and Attorney-General, as additional to 
the regulations in accordance with which suspended claims are decided 
under sections 2450 to 2457, Revised Statutes, as amended by the act 
of Congress of February 27, 1877, viz: 

28. All desert-land entries made by a duly qualified party under the 
act of March 3, 1877, where the land was properly subject to entry 
under said act, and the land has been reclaimed according to law, but 
where any of the declarations, affidavits, or proofs required under the 
statute were omitted or are defective, in consequence of ignorance, 
accident, or mistake, and where from the death or absence of the claim- 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 269 

ant the missing papers can not be supplied, or the defective papers 
amended, and where there is no adverse claim. 

29. All desert-laud entries in which the linal proof and payment were 
not made within three years from date of entry, but in which the claimant 
was duly qualified, the land properly subject to entry under the statute, 
and subsequently reclaimed in time according to its requirements, in 
which the failure to make proof and payment in time was the result of 
ignorance, accident, or mistake, and in which there is no adverse claim. 

30. All desert-land entries in which neither the reclamation nor the 
proof and payment were made within three years from date of entry, 
but where the eutryman was duly qualified, the land properly subject 
to entry under the statute, the legal requirements as to reclamation 
complied with and the failure to do so in time was the result of igno- 
rance, accident, or mistake, or of obstacles which he could not control, 
and where there is no adverse claim. 

S. M. Stockslager, 
Commissioner General Land Office. 

We concur in the foregoing additional rules. 

Wm. F. Vilas, 
Secretary of the Interior. 
A. H. Garland, 



May 12, 1888. 



A ttorney- General. 



Department of the Interior, 

General Land Office, 
Washington, D. (7., April 10, 1890. 
The following rules are hereby established, with the concurrence of 
the Secretary of the Interior and Attorney-General, as additional to the 
regulations in accordance with which suspended claims are decided 
under sections 2450 to 2457, Eevised Statutes, as amended by the act 
of Congress of February 27, 1877, viz: 

31. All preemption, homestead, commutation of homestead, and tim- 
ber-culture entries, in which final proof has been made, and in which 
compliance with one or more legal requirements with reference to the 
final proof notice or in other respects does not appear in the papers, 
because of the neglect or inattention of the district land officers in 
allowing the final proof and payment to be made notwithstanding such 
defect, but where, in fact, notice was given, and in which no adverse 
claim appears, and the existing testimony shows a substantial, bona 
fide compliance with the law, as to residence and improvements, in pre- 
emption, homestead, and commutation of homestead entries, or as to the 
required planting, cultivating, and protecting of the timber, in timber- 
culture entries, or where such facts were satisfactorily shown to the 
district land officers by proof which was lost in transmission to the 
General Land Office, and can not now be renewed by reason of the death 
of witnesses or other cause. 

32. All homestead and timber-culture entries in which the party has 
shown good faith, and a substantial compliance with the legal require- 
ments of residence and cultivation of the land, in homestead entries, 
or the required planting, cultivating, and protecting of the timber, in 
timber- culture entries, but in which the party did not, through igno- 
rance of the law, declare his intention to become a citizen of the United 
States until after he had made his entry, or, in homestead entries, did 
not from like cause perfect citizenship until after the making of final 
proof, and in which there is no adverse claim. 



270 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 



33. All homestead and timber- culture entries in which good faith 
appears, and a substantial compliance with law, and in which there 
is no adverse claim, but in which full compliance with law was not 
effected, or final proof made, within the period prescribed, or residence 
established on the land, in homestead entries, within the time fixed 
therefor by statute, or official regulation based thereon, and in which 
such failure was caused by ignorance of the law, by accident or mis- 
take, by sickness of the party or his family, or by any other obstacle 
which he could not control. 

Lewis A. Groff, 
Commissioner of the General Land Office. 

We concur in the foregoing additional rules. 

John W. Noble, 
Secretary of the Interior. 
W. H. H. Miller, 

Attorney- General. 
April 24, 1890. 





United States Local Land Offices. 




ALABAMA. 


FLORIDA. 


MONTANA. 


OREGON. 


Huntsville. 


Gainesville. 


Bozeman. 


Burns. 


Montgomery. 




Helena. 


La Grande. 




IDAHO. 


Kalispell. 


Lakeview. 


ALASKA. 

Circle. 
Peavy. 
Rampart City. 


Blackfoot. 
Boise City. 
Cceur d'Alene. 


Lewistown. 

Miles C : ty. 
Missoula. 


Oregon City. 
Roseburg. 
The Dalles. 


Sitka. 

ARIZONA. 


Hailey. 
Lewiston. 


NEBRASKA. 

Alliance. 


SOUTH DAKOTA. 


Prescott. 
Tucson. 


IOWA. 


Broken Bow. 
Lincoln. 


Aberdeen. 
Cbamberlain. 




Des Moines. 


McCook. 


Huron. 


ARKANSAS. 




Nortb Platte. 


Mitchell. 


Camden. 


KANSAS. 


O'Neill. 


Pierre. 


Dardanelle. 




Sidney. 


Rapid City. 


Harrison. 


Colby. 


Valentine. 


Watertown. 


Little Rock. 


Dodge City. 






CALIFORNIA. 

Eureka. 


Topeka. 
Wa-Keeney. 


NEVADA. 

Carson City. 


UTAH. 

Salt Lake City. 


Independence. 
Los Angeles. 


LOUISIANA. 


NEW MEXICO. 


WASHINGTON. 


Marysville. 


Natchitoches. 


Clayton. 


North Yakima. 


Redding. 


New Orleans. 


Las Cruces. 


Olympia. 


Sacramento. 




Roswell. 


Seattle. 


San Francisco. 


MICHIGAN. 


Santa Fe. 


Spokane. 


Stockton. 


Marquette. 


NORTH DAKOTA. 


Vancouver. 


Susan ville. 






Walla Walla. 


Visalia. 


MINNESOTA. 


Bismarck. 
Devils Lake. 


Waterville. 


COLORADO. 


Crookston. 


Fargo. 


WISCONSIN. 


Akron. 


Duluth. 


Grand Forks. 




Del Norte. 


Marsball. 


Minot. 


Ashland. 


Denver. 


St. Cloud. 




Eu Claire. 


Durango. 




OKLAHOMA. 


Wausau. 


Glenwood Springs. 


MISSISSIPPI. 


Alva. 




Gunnison. 
Hugo. 


Jackson. 


Enid. 
Gutbrie. 


WYOMING. 

Buffalo. 


Lamar. 
Leadville. 


MISSOURI. 


Kingfisber. 
Man gum. 


Cheyenne. 
Douglas. 


Montrose. 


Boonville. 


Oklahoma. 


Evanston. 


Pueblo. 


Ironton. 


Perry. 


Lander. 


Sterling. 


Springfield. 


Woodward. 


Sundance. 



FOR M S 



[No. 4-001.] 

CASH APPLICATION. 

No. . Land Office at , 

(Date) , IS— , 

I, , of County, , do hereby apply to purchase the - — of 

section , in township , of range , containing acres, according to 

the returns of the surveyor-general, for which I have agreed with the register to 
give at the rate of per acre. 

My post-office address is .' 

I, , register of the land office at , do hereby certify that the lot 

above described contains acres, as mentioned above, and that the price agreed 

upon is per acre. 

, Register. 



[No. 4-131.] 

CASH RECEIPT. 

No. . Receiver's Office at , 

(Date) , 18— . 

Received from , of County, , the sum of — — dollars and 

cents; being in full for the quarter of section No. , in township No. 

, of range No. , containing acres and hundredths, at $ per 

acre. 



Receiver. 



[No. 4-189.] 

CASH CERTIFICATE. 

No. . Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

It is hereby certified that, in pursuance of law, , of County, State 

of , on this day purchased of the register of this office the lot or of sec- 
tion No. , m township No. , of range No. , of the meridian, con- 
taining acres, at the rate of dollars and cents per acre, amounting 

to dollars and cents, for which the said ha — made payment 

in full as required by law. 

Xoiv, therefore be it known, that on the presentation of this certificate to the Com- 
missioner of" the General Land Office, the said shall be entitled to 

receive a patent for the lot above described. 



Register 



1 If residence is in city, street and number must be given. 

271 



272 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[4-102 b.] 

[To be used in all entries since August 30, 1890.] 

AFFIDAVIT. 



U. S. Land Office at 



Date, , 189— . 

I, , of , applying to enter (or file for) a , do solemnly swear 

that since August 30, 1890, I have not entered under the land laws of the United 
States, or filed upon, a quantity of land agricultural in character and not mineral, 
which, with the tracts now applied for, would make more than 320 acres, except 
for settled upon by me prior to August 30, 1890. Said settlement was com- 
menced , and my improvements consisted of . 

(Sign plainly with full Christian name,) . 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189 — , at my office in 

County, . 



[No. 4-536.] 
PREEMPTION RECEIPT AND CERTIFICATE. 

$ . Land Office at , 

{Date) , 18— . 

Mr. has this day paid dollars, the register's and receiver's fees, 

to file a declaratory statement, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. 

, Receiver. 

No. . 

Mr. having paid the fees, has this day filed in this office his declara- 
tory statement, No. , for of section , in township , of range , 

containing acres, settled upon , 18 — , being offered. 

, Register. 



[No. 4-534. J 
PREEMPTION DECLARATORY STATEMENT FOR OFFERED LANDS. 

of , being , have, since the 1st day of , A. D. 18 — , to 



wit, on the day of , A. D. 18 — , settled and improved the quarter of 

section No. , in township No. , of range No. , in the district of lands 

subject to sale at the land office at , and containing acres, which land had 

been rendered subject to private entry prior to my settlement thereon ; and I do hereby 
declare my intention to claim the said tract of land as a preemption right, under 
section 2259 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 
My post-office address is . ' 

Given uuder my hand this day of , A. D. 18 — . 



Iu presence of , of 

and , of 



[No. 4-535.] 
PREEMPTION DECLARATORY STATEMENT FOR UNOFFERED LANDS. 

of being , have, on the day of , A. D. 18 — , set- 



tled and improved the quarter of section No. , in township No. , of 

range No. , iu the district of lands subject to sale at the land office at , and 

containing acres, which land has not yet been offered at public sale, and thus 

rendered subject to private entry; and I do hereby declare my intention to claim 
the said tract of land as a preemption right under section 2259 of the Revised Stat- 
utes of the United States. 
My post-office address is . l 



Given under my hand this day of , A. D. 18 — . 

In the presence of , of . 

and , of . 



If residence is in city, street and number must be given. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 273 

[No. 4-061.] 

(Sec. 2262, R. S.) 

AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF PREEMPTION CLAIMANT. 

I, , claiming the right of preemption under section 22b9 of the 

Revised Statutes of the United States, to the of section No. , of tow hip 

No. , of range No. , subject to sale at , do solemnly that I have 

never had the benefit of any right of preemption under said section; that I am not 
the owner of 320 acres of land in any State or Territory of the United States, nor 
have I settled upon and improved said land to sell the same on speculation, but in 
good faith to appropriate it to my own exclusive use or benefit; and that I have 
not, directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, 
with any person or persons whomsoever, by which the title which I may acquire 
from the Government of the United States should inure, in whole or in part, to the 
benefit of any person except myself. 

(Have claimant sign here.) . 

I, , of , at , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was sub- 
scribed and sworn to before me this day of , A. D. 18 — , at my office in. 

County, . 



[4-374.] 
PREEMPTION PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OF WITNESS. 



— , being called as a witness in support of the preemption claim of 
to the , testifies as follows : 



Q. 1. What is your post-office address ? — A. . 

Q. 2. How long have you known claimant, and what is age? — A. . 

Q. 3. Is claimant married or single ? 2d. Of whom does family (if any) consist ? 

3d. Is a native or naturalized citizen? — A. 1st, ; 2d, ; 3d, . 

Q. 4. Are you familiar with the character of the land ? (State specifically the char- 
acter of this land — whether it is timber, prairie, grazing, or farming. ) 2d. Are there 
any indications of coal, mineral, or salines thereon? If so, state plainly the nature.) 
3d. Is it more valuable for agricultural than mining purposes? 4th. Do you reside in 
its vicinity? 5th. Is it within the limits of an incorporated town or selected town 
site, or used in any way tor purposes of trade or business? (Answer to the point 
and in detail.)— A. 1st, ; 2d, ; 3d, ; 4th, ; 5th, . 

Q. 5. Is claimant the owner of 320 acres in this or any other State or Territory? 

2d. Did leave or abandon a residence on own land in this to 

reside on the land herein described ? 3d. Has ever filed for other land under 

the preemption law? 4th. Has mortgaged or agreed to sell the land herein 

described?— A. 1st, ; 2d, ; 3d, ; 4th, 



Q. 6. When did the claimant first settle on claim? 2d. What was 



first act of settlement ? 3d. What improvements has on the land ? 4th. What 

is the value of such improvements? 5th. When did commence resi- 
dence thereon? 6th. Has residence been continuous? 7th. What use has 

made of the land? 8th. How much land has broken and cultivated? 

(Answer to the point and in detail.) — A. 1st, ; 2d, ; 3d, ; 4th, 

$ ; 5th, -; 6th, ; 7th, ; 8th, acres. 

Q. 7. Are you in any way interested in this claim, or by blood or marriage related 
to claimant? — A. . 



(Sign plainly with full Christian name.) , . 

I hereby certify that the foregoing testimony was read to the witness before being 

subscribed, and was sworn to before me this day of , 189 — , at my office in 

County, . 



TESTIMONY OF CLAIMANT. 

, being called as a witness in own behalf in support of pre- 
emption claim to the , testifies as follows : 

Q. 1. What is your name (be carefal to give it in full, correctly spelled, in order 
that it may be here written exactly as you wish it written in the patent which you 
desire to obtain) and age? — A. . 

Q. 2. Are you the head of a family (if so, of whom does it consist) or a single 

person? — A. . 

3073 18 



274 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

Q. 3. Are you a native-born citizen of the United States? If so, in what State or 
Territory were yon horn 1 ' — A. . 

Q. 4. Is your preemption claim, ahove described, within the limits of an incor- 
porated town or selected site of a city or town, or used in any way for trade and 
business? 2d. Did you leave other land of your own to reside on your present 
claim? 3d. Have you ever made a preemption filing for land other than you now 
seek to enter? If so, describe the same. 4th. State specifically the character of 
this land — whether it is timber, prairie, grazing, farming, coal, or mineral land. 
(Answer to the point and in detail.) — A. 1st, ; 2d, ; 3d, ; 4th, 



Q. 5. When did you first make settlement on the above-described land? 2d. What 
was your first act of settlement? 3d. Were there any improvements on the land 
when you settled? If so, state who then owned them, and whether you purchased 
the same. 4th. What improvements have you made on the land since settlement, 
and what is the value of same? — A. 1st, ; 2d, ; 3d, ; 4th, . 

Q. 6. When did you first establish an actual residence on the land you now seek to 
enter? 2d. Has your residence thereon since been continuous? 3d. What use have 
you made of the land? 4th. How much of the land, if any, have you broken and 
cultivated since settlement, and what kind and quantity of crops have you raised? 
5th. Have you any personal property of any kind elsewhere than on this claim? If 

so, describe the same, and state where the same is kept. — A. 1st, ; 2d, ; 

3d, — ; 4th, ; 5th, . 

Q. 7. Are either of the parties who have testified as your witnesses in this case 
related to you by blood or marriage? If so, state how related. — A. . 

Q. 8. Describe by legal subdivisions, or by number, kind of entry and office where 
made, any other entry or filing (not mineral) made by you since August 30, 1890. — 
A. . 



(Sign plainly with full christian name.) 



I hereby certify that each question and answer in the foregoing testimony was 

read to claimant before being subscribed, and was sworn to before me this 

day of , 189 — , at my office in County, . 



Note. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to 
the following section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Govern- 
ment, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law : 

Title LXX.— CRIMES.— Chapter 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in 
any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, 
declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate 
by him subscribed is true, willfully, and contrary to such oath, states or subscribes any material mat- 
ter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not 
more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment at hard labor not more than five years, and 
shall, moreover, thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States until 
such time as the judgment against him is reversed. (See § 1750.) 



[4-007.] 

HOMESTEAD. 

Application No. . 

Land Office at 



, 189— . 

I, , of , do hereby apply to enter, under section 2289, 

Ee vised Statutes of the United States, the of section , in township 

of range , containing acres. 

My post-office address is 2 . 



Land Office at 



189—. 



I } — , register of the land office, do hereby certify that the above 

application is for surveyed lands of the class which the applicant is legally entitled 
to enter under section 2289, Revised Statutes of the United States, and that there 
is no prior valid adverse right to the same. 

, Register. 

1 In case the party is of foreign birth, a certftied transcript from the court records 
of his declaration of intention to become a citizen, or of his naturalization, or a copy 
thereof, certified by the officer taking this proof, must be filed with the case. 

2 If residence is in city, street and number must be given. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 275 

[4-063.] 
HOMESTEAD AFFIDAVIT. 

U. S. Land Office at , 



, 189—. 

I, , of , having filed my application No. , for an entry under 

section 2289, Kevised Statutes of the United States, do solemnly swear that I am not 
the proprietor of more than one hundred and sixty acres of land in any State or 

Territory; that I am 1 ; that my said application is honestly and in good 

faith made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and. not for the 
benefit of any other person, persons, or corporation, and that I will faithfully and 
honestly endeavor to comply with all the requirements of law as to settlement, resi- 
dence, and cultivation necessary to acquire title to the land applied for; that 1 am 
not acting as agent of any person, corporation, or syndicate in making such entry, 
nor in collusion with any person, corporation, or syndicate to give them the benefit 
of the land entered, or any part thereof, or the timber thereon ; that I do not apply 
to enter the same for the purpose of speculation, but in good faith to obtain a home 
for myself, and that I have not directly or indirectly made, and will not make, any 
agreement or contract in any way or manner, with any person or persons, corpora- 
tion or syndicate whatsoever, by which the title which I might acquire from the 
Government of the United States should inure in whole or in part to the benefit of 
any person except myself; and further, that since August 30, 1890, 1 have not entered 
under the land laws of the United States, or filed upon, a quantity of land, agricul- 
tural in character, and not mineral, which, with the tracts now applied for, would 

make more than three hundred and twenty acres, except , and that I 

have not heretofore made any entry under the homestead laws except . 

(Sign plainly with full christian name.) 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189 — , at my office at 

, in County, . 



[4-137.] 

Eeceiver's receipt, No. . Application, No. . 

HOMESTEAD. 

Eeceiver's Office, , 

. ISO—. 



Eeceived of the sum of dollars cents, being the amount 

of fee and compensation of register and receiver for the entry of of section 

in township of range , under section No. 2290, Eevised Statutes of the 

United States. 

, Receiver. 

Note.— It is required of the homestead settler that he shall reside upon arid cultivate the land 
embraced in his homestead entry for a period of five years from the time of filing the affidavit, being 
also the date of entry. An abandonment of the land for more than six months works a forfeiture of 
the claim. Further /wit bin two years from the expiration of the said rive years he must file proof of 
his actual settlement and cultivation, failing to do which, his entry Avill be canceled. If the settler 
does not wish to remain five years on his tract, he can, at any time after fourteen months, pay for it 
with cash or land warrants, upon making proof of settlement and cultivation from date of filing affidavit 
to the time of payment. 

[Marginal notes in red ink.] 

See note in red ink, which registers and receivers will read and explain thoroughly to persons 
making application for lands where the affidavit is made before either of them. 

Timber land embraced in a homestead, or other entry not consummated, may he cleared in order to 
cultivate the land and improve the premises, but for no other purpose. 

If, after clearing the land for cultivation, there remains more timber than is required for improve- 
ment, there is no objection to the settler disposing of the same. But the question whether the land is 
"being cleared of its timber for legitimate purposes is a question of fact, which is liable to be raised at 
any time. If the timber is cut and removed/or any other purpose, it will subject the entry to cancella- 
tion, and the person who cut it will be liable to civil suit for recovery of the value of said^ timber, and 
also to criminal prosecution under section 2461 of the Kevised Statutes. 

iHere insert statement that affiants a citizen of the United States, or that he has 
filed his declaration of intention to become such, and that he is the head of a family, 
or is over twenty-one years of age, as the case may be. It should be stated whether 
applicant is native born or not, and if not, a certified copy of his certificate of natur- 
alization, or declaration of intention, as the case may be, must be furnished. (See 
page 45, circular of January 1, 1889.) 



276 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[4-102 o.] 

[To be used in cases of commuted homestead entries in Oklahoma Territory.] 

AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF CLAIMANT. 

[Section 21 of act of May 2, 1890. ] 

I, , who on per cash entry No. , commuted, under section 

21 of the act of May 2, 1890 (Statutes, first session Fifty-first Congress, p. 81), my 

homestead entry No. , made upon the , section , township , range 

, do solemnly swear that no part of said lands was, at date of purchase, occu 

pied, required, or intended for town-site purposes, and that said entry, in whole or 
in part, was not made for the benefit of any other person, persons, or corporation, 
nor in collusion with any person, corporation, or syndicate to give them the benefit 
of the land entered, or any part thereof, for town-site or other purposes; that I had 
not then directly or indirectly made, nor was it my intention to make, any agree- 
ment or contract iu any way or manner with ar - person or persons, corporation, or 
syndicate whatsoever, except as provided in section 2288 of the Revised Statutes, 
by which the title which I might acquire from thi Government of the United States 
should inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except myself. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 189- 



[4-102.] 
AFFIDAVIT. 

Land Office at 



, 189— . 

I, , of , applying to enter (or file for) a homestead, do solemnly 

swear that I did not enter upon and occupy any portion of the lands described and 
declared open to entry in the President's proclamation dated March 23. 1889, prior 
to 12 o'clock, noon, of April 22, 1889. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189 — . 



Note. — This affidavit must be made before the register or receiver of the proper district land office, 
or before some officer authorized to administer oaths and using a seal. 



[4-348.] 
HOMESTEAD NOTICE OF INTENTION TO MAKE FINAL PROOF. 

Land Office at , 



189—. 



I, , of , who made homestead application No. for the 

-, do hereby give notice of my intention to make final proof to establish my 



claim to the land, above described, and that I expect to prove my residence and 

cultivation before ■ at , on , 189 — , by two of the following 

witnesses : 

,of . 

■ ■ , of . 



[Signature of claimant.] 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 277 

Land OFFice at , 

, 189— . 



Notice of the above application will be published in the , printed at — , 

which I hereby designate as the newspaper published nearest the land described in 
said application. 

, Register. 

Xotice to claimant. — Give time and place of proving up and name the title of the officer hefore 
whom proof is to be made; also give names and post-office address of four neighbors, two of whom 
must appear as your witnesses. 



[4-347.] 
NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION. 

Land Office at 



, 189— . 

Notice is hereby given that the following-named settler has filed notice of his 
intention to make final proof in support of his claim, and that said proof will be 

made before at , ou , 189 — , viz : , for the . 

He names the following witnesses to prove his continuous residence upon and cul- 
tivation of said land, viz: 

, of . 

, of . 

, of . 

, of . 

Kote. — This notice must also be posted in a conspicuous place in the land office for a period of 
thirty days prior to the date of final proof. 



HOMESTEAD CONSOLIDATED NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION. 

Land Office at 



Notice is hereby given that the following-named settlers have filed notice of 

intention to make final proof on their respective claims before , at 

, on , 18 — , viz : 

, on homestead application No. , for the . 

Witnesses : , of , and , of ■ 



on preemption declaratory statement No. , for the 



Witnesses : ; of , and 



-, Register. 



[4-227.] 
CERTIFICATE AS TO POSTING OF NOTICE. 

Land Office at 



-, 189—. 



I, , register, do hereby certify that a notice, a printed copy of which 

is hereto attached, was by me posted in a conspicuous place in my office for a 

period of thirty days, I having first posted said notice on the day of , 189 — . 

, Register. 



278 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[4-070.] 
HOMESTEAD PROOF. 

FINAL AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF HOMESTEAD CLAIMANTS. 
[Section 2291 of the Bevised Statutes of the United States.] 



L , having made a homestead entry of the , section No. , 

in township No. , of range No. , subject to entry at , under section 

No. 2289 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States, do now apply to perfect my 
claim thereto by virtue of section No. 2291 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

States, and for that purpose do solemnly that I am a citizen of the United 

States ; that I have made actual settlement upon and have cultivated said land, hav- 
ing resided thereon since the day of , 18 — , to the present time; that no 

part of said land has been alienated, except as provided in section 2288 of the Revised 
Statutes, but. that I am the sole bona fide owner as an actual settler ; that I will 
bear true allegiance to the Government of the United States ; and further, that I 
have not heretofore perfected or abandoned an entry made under the homestead 
laws of the United States, except 



(Sign plainly full Christian name.) 



of , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was subscribed and 



sworn to before me this day of - — , 189—, at my office at — — , in 

County, 



[4-369.] 
HOMESTEAD PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OF CLAIMANT. 



-, being called as a witness in his own behalf in support ^of homestead 



entry, No. , for , testifies as follows: 

Q. 1. What is your name, age, and post-office address ? — A. . 

Q. 2. Are you a native-born citizen of the United States; and if so, in what State 
or Territory were you born? J — A. . 

Q. 3. Are you the identical person who made homestead entry, No. , at the 

land office on the day of , 18 — , and what is the true description of the 

land now claimed by you? — A. . 

Q. 4. When was your house built on the land and when did you establish actual 
residence therein? (Describe said house and other improvements which you have 
placed on the land, giving total value thereof.) — A. . 

Q. 5. Of whom does your family consist; and have you and your family resided 
continuously on the land since first establishing residence thereon? (If unmarried, 
state the fact.) — A. . 

Q. 6. For what period or periods have you been absent from the homestead since 
making settlement, and for what purpose; and if temporarily absent, did your family 
reside upon and cultivate the land during such absence? — A. . 

Q. 7. How much of the land have you cultivated each season, and for how many 
seasons have you raised crops thereon? — A. . 

Q. 8. Is your present claim within the limits of an incorporated town or selected 
site of a city or town, or used in any way for trade and business? — A. . 

Q. 9. What is the character of the land? Is it timber, mountainous, prairie, graz- 
ing, or ordinary agricultural land? State its kind and quality, and for what purpose 
it is most valuable. — A. . 

Q. 10. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on the 
land? (If so, describe what they are, and state whether the land is more valuable 
for agricultural than for mineral purposes.) — A. . 

Q. 11. Has^e you ever made any other homestead entry? (If so, describe the 
same.) — A. . 

: (In case the party is of foreign birth a certified transcript from the court records 
of his declaration of intention to become a citizen, or of his naturalization, or a copy 
thereof, certified by the officer taking this proof, must be filed with the case. Evi- 
dence of naturalization is only required in final (five year) homestead cases.) 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 279 

Q. 12. Have you sold, conveyed, or mortgaged any portion of the land; and if so, 
to whom and for what purpose? — A. . 

Q. 13. Have you any personal property of any kind elsewhere than on this claim? 
(If so, describe the same, and state where the same is kept.) — A. . 

Q. 14. Describe by legal subdivisions, or by number, kind of entry, and office 
where made, any other entry or filing (not mineral) made by you since August 30, 
1890.— A. . 

(Sign plainly with full Christian name.) . 



I hereby certify that the foregoiug testimony was read to the claimant before being 

subscribed, and was sworn to before me this day of , 189 — , at my office 

at , in County, . 



Note. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to the 
following section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, 
if it he ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law. 

Title LXX. -CRIMES.— Chap. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in 
any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, 
declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate 
by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter 
which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more 
than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, 
moreover, thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States until such 
time as the judgment against him is reversed. (See §1750.) 

TESTIMONY OF WITNESS. 

being called as a witness in support of the homestead entry of , 



for , testifies as follows: 

Q. 1. What is your name, age, and post-office address? — A. . 

Q. 2. Are you well acquainted with the claimant in this case and the land embraced 
in his claim? — A. . 

Q. 3. Is said tract within the limits of an incorporated town or selected site of a 
city or town or used in any way for trade or business? — A. . 

Q. 4. State specifically the character of this land — whether it is timber, prairie, 
grazing, farming, coal, or mineral land? — A. . 

Q. 5. When did claimant settle upon the homestead and at what date did he estab- 
lish actual residence thereon? — A. . 

Q. 6. Have claimant and family resided continuously on the homestead since 
first establishing residence thereon? (If settler is unmarried, state the fact.) — 
A. . 

Q. 7. For what period or periods has the settler been absent from the land since 
making settlement, and for what purpose ; and if temporarily absent, did claimant's 
family reside upon and cultivate the land during such absence? — A. . 

Q. 8. How much of the homestead has the settler cultivated and how many seasons 
did he raise crops thereon? — A. 



Q. 9. What improvements are on the land and what is their value? — A. . 

Q. 10. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on the 
homestead ? (If so, describe what they are, and state whether the land is more val- 
uable for agricultural than for mineral purposes.) — A. . 

Q. 11. Has the claimant mortgaged, sold, or contracted to sell any portion of said 
homestead? — A. . 

Q. 12. Are you interested in this claim, and do you think the settler has acted in 
entire good faith in perfecting this entry? — A. . 

(Sign plainly with full christian name.) . 

I hereby certify that The foregoing testimony was read to the witness before being 

subscribed, and was sworn to before me this day of , 189 — , at my office 

at , in County, . . 



(The testimony of witnesses must be taken at the same time and place and before 
the same officer as claimant's final affidavit. The answers must be full and complete 
to each and every question asked, and officers taking testimony will be expected to 
make no mistakes in dates, description of land, or otherwise.) 



280 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[4-140.] 
Final receiver's receipt No. . Application No. 

HOMESTEAD. 

Receiver's Office, 



, 189— . 

Received of ; the sum of dollars cents, being the balance 

of payment required by law for the entry of of section , in township 

of range , containing acres, under section 2291 of the Revised Statutes o± 

the United States. 

$ • , Receiver. 



[4-140 a.] 

No. . 

Receiver's Office at 



-, 189- 



Received from , of County, , the sum of dollars 

and cents, being the installment of the purchase money under homestead 

application, No. , for the quarter of section No. , in township No. 

of range No. , containing acres and hundredths, at $ per acre, under 

the act of Congress of . 



Receiver 



[4-196.] 

Final certificate No. . Application No. 

HOMESTEAD. 

Land Office at 



, 189— . 

It is hereby certified that pursuant to the provisions of section No. 2291, Revised 

Statutes of the United States, has made payment in full for of 

section No. , in township No. of range No. , of the principal merid- 
ian , containing acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known that on presentation of this certificate to the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office the said shall be entitled to a 

patent for the tract of land above described. 

, Register. 



[4-069.] 

[To be used in cases of commuted homestead entries. For taking the testimony of claimant and his 
■witnesses in making commutation proof use the prescibed forms for "Homestead Proof."] 

AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF CLAIMANT. 

[Section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.] 

I, , claiming the right to commute, under section 2301 of the Revised 

Statutes of the United States, my homestead entry, No. , made upon the 

of section , township , range . do solemnly swear that I made settlement 

upon said land on the day of , 18 — , and that since such date, to wit, on 

the day of , 18 — , I have built a house on said land, and have continued 

to reside therein up to the present time; that I have broken and cultivated 

acres of said land, and that no part of said land has been alienated except as pro- 
vided in section 2288 of the Revised Statutes, but that I am the sole bona fide owner 
as an actual settler. 

I further swear that I have not heretofore perfected or abandoned an entry made 
under the homestead laws of the United States, except . 

(Sign plainly with full christian name.) . 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 189 — , at my office at 

, in County, . 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 281 

[4-066.] 
ADJOINING FARM HOMESTEAD. 

[Affidavit.] 



Land Office at 



180— . 



I, , of , having filed my application, No. , for an entry 

under the provisions of the act of Congress approved May 20, 1862, entitled "An 
act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," do solemnly swear 

that ; that said entry is made for my own exclusive benefit and not, directly 

or indirectly, for the benefit or use of any other person or persons whomsoever; 
neither have I heretofore perfected or abandoned an entry made under this act; that 
the land embraced in the said application No. is intended for cm adjoining- 
farm homestead; that I now own and reside upon an original farm containing 

acres and no more; that the same comprises the of section , township , 

range , and is contiguous to the tract this day applied for. 



Sworn to and subscribed this day of , 189 — , before — 



of the Land Office. 



[4-067.] 



final affidavit required of adjoining farm homestead 

claimants: 

[Section 2291, Revised Statutes.] 

I, , having made a homestead entry of the , section No. 

in township No. of range No. , subject to entry at , for the use of an 

adjoining farm owned and occupied by me on the of section No. in town- 
ship No. of range No. , under section 2289 of the Revised Statutes, do now 

apply to perfect my claim thereto by virtue of section No. 2291 of the same, and for 

that purpose do solemnly that I am a citizen of the United States ; that I have 

continued to own and occupy the land constituting my original farm, having resided 

thereon since the day of , 18 — , to the present time, and have made use of 

the said entered tract as a part of my homestead, and have improved the same in the 

following manner, viz : ; that no part of said land has been alienated, but that 

I am the sole bona fide owner as an actual settler; that I will bear true allegiance to 
the Government of the United States; and, further, that I have not heretofore per- 
fected or abandoned an entry under the homestead laws. 



I, , of the land office at , do hereby certify that the above 

affidavit was taken and subscribed before me this day of , 18 — . 



[4-071.] 



[To be \Tsed in mating Final Proof in cases where preemption filings have been changed to homestead 
entries under the acts of March 3, 1877, and May 27 and June 14, 1878.] 

PREEMPTION-HOMESTEAD AFFIDAVIT. 

I, , having changed my preemption declaratory statement, No. , 

filed the of , 18 — , alleging 'settlement the day of , 18 — , for the 

, section No. in township No. of range No. , to homestead entry 

original No. , district lands subject to entry at under the acts of Congress 

approved March 3, 1877, and May 27, 1878, do solemnly swear that I have never had the 
benefit of any right of preemption under section 2259 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States; that I have not heretofore filed a preemption declaratory statement 
for another tract of land; that I was not the owner of three hundred and twenty 
acres of land in any State or Territory of the United States at any time during the 



282 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

above-mentioned period of settlement under the preemption statutes ; that I did not 

remove from my own land within the State of to make the settlement above 

referred to; nor have I settled upon and improved said land to sell the same on 
speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to my exclusive use or benefit; and 
that I did not, during the period of preemption settlement above mentioned, directly 
or indirectly, make any agreement or contract in any way or manner with any per- 
son or persons whatsoever by which the title which I might acquire from the Gov- 
ernment of the United States would inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any 
person except myself. 



of the land office at , do hereby certify that the above affi- 



davit was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 



[4-018.] 
ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD. 

[Act of .] 



Application No. .] Land Office at , 

, 18—. 



I, , of , do hereby apply to enter, under the act of , the 

of section in township of range , containing acres, as 

additional to my entry, No. , for the of , section in township 

of range . 

My post-office address is x . 



Land Office at , 

, 18-. 

I, , register of the land office, do hereby certify that the above appli- 
cation is for surveyed lands of the class which the applicant is legally entitled to 

enter under the act of y and that there is no prior valid adverse right to the 

same. 

, Register. 



[4-086.] 

[Affidavit.] 

ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD 

[Act of March 3, 1879.] 

Land Office at 



189—. 



I, , of , having filed my application, No. , for an entry under 

the act of March 3, 1879, do solemnly swear that ; that I did not serve for a 

period of ninety days or more in the Army or Navy of the United States during the 
war of the rebellion and receive an honorable discharge therefrom; that said appli- 
cation No. is made for my exclusive benefit, and that said entry is made for the 

purpose of actual settlement and cultivation as an addition to my homestead, No. 

, and not, directly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person or 

persons whomsoever, and that I have not heretofore had the benefit of said act. 



Sworn to and subscribed this day of , 189 — , before- 



Note. — If this affidavit be acknowledged before the clerk of the court, as provided for by section 
2294, United States Revised Statutes, the homestead party must expressly state herein that he or some 
memoer of his family is residing upon the land applied for, or upon the land embraced in his original 
entry, and that bona fide improvement and settlement have been made. He must also state why he is 
unable to appear at the land office. 

1 If residence in city, street and number must be given. , 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 283 

[4-546.] 
SOLDIER'S DECLARATORY STATEMENT. 

I, , of County and State or Territory of , do solemnly 

swear that I served for a period of in the Army of the United States during 

the war of the rebellion, and was honorably discharged therefrom, as shown by a 
statement of such service herewith, and that I have remained loyal to the Govern- 
ment; that I have never made homestead eutry or filed a declaratory statement under 
sections 2290 and 2304 of the Revised Statutes ; that I am not the proprietor of more 
than one hundred and sixty acres of land in any State or Territory; that since 
August 30, 1890, I have not entered under the land laws of the United States, or 
filed upon, a quantity of land, agricultural in character, and not mineral, which, 
with the tracts herein described, would make more than three hundred and twenty 

acres; that I have located as a homestead under said statute the , and hereby 

give notice of my intention to claim and enter said tract; that this location is made 
for my exclusive use and benefit, for the purpose of my actual settlement and culti- 
vation, and not, either directly or indirectly, for the use and benefit of any other 
person. 

My present post-office address is . 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189 — . 

[seal.] 

Note. — This form may be used where the soldier files his own declaratory statement. 



[4-545.] 
SOLDIER'S DECLARATORY STATEMENT. 

[Filed by an agent.] 

I, , of County and State or Territory of , do solemnly 

swear that I served for a period of in the Army of the United States during 

the war of the rebellion, and was honorably discharged therefrom, as shown by a 
statement of such service herewith, and that I have remained loyal to the Govern- 
ment ; that I have never made homestead entry or filed a declaratory statement 
under sections 2290, 2304, or 2309 of the Revised Statutes; that I am not the pro- 
prietor of more than one hundred and sixty acres of land in any State or Territory; 
that since August 30, 1890, I have not entered under the land laws of the United 
States, or filed upon, a quantity of land, agricultural in character, and not mineral, 
which, with the tracts herein authorized to be located, would make more than three 
hundred and twenty acres ; that I have appointed, by power of attorney, duly exe- 
cuted on the day of (or I do hereby appoint), , of County and 

State of , my true and lawful agent, under section 2309 aforesaid, to select for 

me and in my name, and file my declaratory statement for a homestead right under 
the aforesaid sections; and I hereby give notice of my intention to claim and enter 
said tract under said statute; that the location herein authorized is made for my 
exclusive use and benefit, for the purpose of my actual settlement and cultivation, 
and not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person ; that 
my said attorney has no interest, present or prospective, in the premises, and that I 
have made no arrangement or agreement with him or any other person for any sale 
or attempted sale or relinquishment of my claim in any manner or for any consider- 
ation whatever, and that I have not signed this declaration in blank. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189 — , and I certify that 

the foregoing declaration was fully filled out before being subscribed or attested. 

[OFFICIAL SEAL.] . 

By virtue of the foregoing, and of a certain power of attorney therein named, duly 

executed on the day of , and filed herewith, I hereby select the 

as the homestead claim of , the aforesaid, and do solemnly swear that the same 

is filed in good faith for the purposes therein specified, and that I have no interest 
or authority in the matter, present or prospective, beyond the filing of the same as 

the true and lawful agent of the said , as provided by section 2309 of the 

Revised Statutes of the United States. 

, Agent. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189 — . 

[OFFICIAL SEAL.] . 

Note. — This form mav be used where the declaratory statement is filed by an agent under section 
2309, Revised Statutes. 



284 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[4-015.] 
HOMESTEAD. 

[Soldiers' and sailors' homesteads under act June 8, 1872.] 

Application No. .] Land Office at 



189- 



I, , of , do hereby apply to enter, under the provisions of the 

act of June 8, 1872, amendatory of an act entitled "An act to enable honorably dis- 
charged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan children, to secure homesteads 

on the public domain," the of section , in township , of range , 

containing acres, and for which I have filed my declaration on the day of 

, 18 — , through , my duly appointed agent. 

My postoffice address is .' 



Land Office at 



, 189— . 

1, , register of the land office, do hereby certify that filed the 

above application at this office on the day of , 18 — , and that he has taken 

the oath and paid the fees and commissions prescribed by law. 

, Register. 



[4-065.] 
AFFIDAVIT. 

[Soldiers' and sailors' homesteads under act June 8, 1872.] 
No. .] Land Office at 



-, 18-. 



I, , of , do solemnly swear that I am a , of the age of 

twenty-one years, and a citizen of the United States ; that I served for ninety days in 

Company — , Regiment United States Volunteers; that I was mustered into 

the United States military service the day of , 18—, and was honorably 

discharged therefrom on the day of- , 18 — ; that I have since borne true 

allegiance to the Government; and that I have made my application, No. ■ , to 

enter a tract of land under the provisions of the act of June 8, 1872, giving home- 
steads to honorably discharged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan chil- 
dren ; that I have made said application in good faith ; and that I take said home- 
stead for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and for my own exclusive 
use and benefit, and for the use and benefit of no other person or persons whomsoever ; 
and that I have not heretofore acquired a title to a tract of land under this or the 
original homestead law, approved. May 20, 1862, or the amendments thereto, or 
voluntarily relinquished or abandoned an entry heretofore made under said acts. 
So help me God. 



Sworn and subscribed to before me, , register of the land office at 

this day of , 18 — . 



-, Register. 



[4-008.] 
APPLICATION. 

[Additional entry under section 2306 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.] 
No. ■.] Land Office, 



;18-. 



I, , of County, State of , being entitled to the benefits of 

section 2306 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, granting additional lands 

1 If residence in city, street and number must be given. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 285 

to soldiers and sailors who served in the war of the rebellion, do hereby apply to 

enter the as additional to my original homestead on the , which I entered 

18 — , per homestead No. . 



My post-office address is 



Land Office, , 

, 18—. 



I, , register of the land office at , do hereby certify that 



filed the above application before me for the tract of land therein described, and 
that he has paid the fee and commissions prescribed by law. 

, Register. 



[4-197.] 

CERTIFICATE. 

[Additional entry under section 2306 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.] 
Final certificate No. .] [Application No. . 

Land Office, , 

, 18-. 

It is hereby certified that, pursuant to the provisions of section 2306 of the 

Revised Statutes of the United States, has paid the fee and commissions and 

made entry of the of section , of township , of range , contain- 
ing acres, which added to the quantity embraced in his original homestead 

No. , on which he has made final proof, as per certificate No. , does not 

exceed 160 acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known that, on presentation of this certificate to the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office, the said shall be entitled to a patent 

for the tract of land above described. 

; Register. 



[1-102 a.] 
AFFIDAVIT. 

[Act of June 20, 1890.] 

Land Office at , 

(Date) , 189— . 

I, , of , applying to enter (or file for) a homestead, do solemnly 

swear that I did not enter upon and occupy any portion of the lands restored to the 
public domain and made subject to entry by the act approved June 20, 1890 — Public, 
No. 170— prior to December 20, 1890. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189- 



[4-343.] 
United States Land Office, 



-, 18- 



Sir: Your homestead entry No. , sec. , T. , R. , was made 



, 18 — , and the five years during which residence and cultivation were required 

by law expired , 18 — . 

The law provides that patent shall issue upon the presentation of proper proof of 
residence and cultivation within two years after the expiration of the five years 
referred to. 

1 If residence in city, street and number must be given. 



286 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

If this final proof is not presented within the time prescribed this office will he 
warranted in treating the entry as voluntarily abandoned on your part. 

, Register. 



Receiver. 



To 



[4-344.] 
FOE SEVEN-YEAR NOTICE. 

United States Land Office, 



-, 18-. 



Sir: You are hereby notified that the homestead law requires final proof of settle- 
ment and cultivation to be made within two years after the expiration of five years 

from date of entry, and that in case of your entry, No. , for of section 

, township , range , dated , 18 — , the time fixed by the statute has 

expired without the requisite proof being filed by you. You will therefore, within 
thirty days from date of service of this notice, show cause before us why your claim 
shall not be declared forfeited and your entry canceled for noncompliance with the 
requirements of the law, so that the case may be reported to the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office for the proper action. 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 

To , 



[4-344.] 

FOR EIGHT- YEAR NOTICE. 

Department of the Interior, 

United States Land Office, 

, 189— . 

Sir : You are hereby notified that the homestead law requires final proof of settle- 
ment and cultivation to be made within three years after the expiration of five years 
from date of entry (see act of July 26, 1894, 28 Stat., 123), and that in case of your 

entry, No. , for , of section , township , range , dated , 

18 — , the time fixed by the statute has expired without the requisite proof being filed 
by you. You will, therefore, within thirty days from date of service of this notice, 
show cause before us why your claim shall not be declared forfeited and your entry 
canceled for noncompliance with the requirements of the law, so that the case may 
be reported to the Commissioner of the General Land Office for the proper action. 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 

To , 



[4-385.1 
TIMBER-CULTURE PROOF— TESTIMONY OF CLAIMANT. 

[Act of June 14, 1878.] 
■, being called as a witness in own behalf, in support of 



timber-culture entry No. , for section , township , of range , 

meridian, in the district of lands subject to entry at , testifies as follows: 

Q. 1. What is your name (written in full and correctly spelled), your age, and 
post-office address? — A. . 

Q. 2. Describe your timber-culture entry by legal subdivisions, giving the date 
thereof and the number of acres embraced therein. — A. . 

Q. 3. Are you a native-born citizen of the United States? If so, in what State or 
Territory were you born ? 1 — A. . 

Q. 4. What number of acres of said land was broken by you during the first year, 
what number broken during the second year, and what number broken during the 
third year, respectively, after the date of your entry? — A. . 

'In case the party is of foreign birth a certified transcript of the court records of bis declaration of 
intention to become a citizen, or naturalization, or a copy thereof, certified by the officer taking this 
proof, must be filed with the case. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 287 

Q. 5. How many acres of said tract were cultivated during the second year of 
your entry, and how many the third year? — A. . 

Q. 6. How many acres of said tract were planted to trees, seeds, or cuttings dur- 
ing the third year of your entry? State the kind or kinds of trees, seeds, or cuttings 
planted ; and how you know the area or number of acres so planted during said third 
year. — A. . 

Q. 7. How maDy acres of said tract were planted to trees, seeds, or cuttings dur- 
ing the fourth year of your entry? State the kind or kinds of trees, seeds, or cut- 
tings planted ; and how you know the area or number of acres so planted during 
said fourth year. — A. . 

Q. 8. State what was done each year, subsequent to the fourth year, in the way of 
replanting and cultivating the tract planted to trees, seeds, or cuttings. — A. Fifth 

year, ; sixth year, ; seventh year, ; eighth year, ; ninth 

year, ; tenth year, ; eleventh year, ; twelfth year, . 

Q. 9. Describe the condition of the trees now growing on said tract, giving their 
average diameter and height, as near as yon can, the kind or kinds of trees, the num- 
ber of trees per acre now growing thereon, and state how you know the facts to which 
you testify. — A. . 

Q 10. Describe by legal subdivisions, or by number, kind of entry, and office 
where made, any other entry or filing (not mineral) made by you since August 30, 
1890.— A. . 

(Sign plainly with full Christian name.) . 

I hereby certify that each question and answer in the foregoing testimony was 

read to the claimant before signed name thereto, and that the same 

was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 189 — , at my office 

in CountVi . 



Note. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to 
the following act of Congress, which is made by statute specifically applicable to all oaths, affirma- 
tions, and affidavits required or authorized under the timber-culture act : 



Act of March 3, 1857 (11 Statutes, p. 250). 



"Sec 5. And be it further enacted, That in all cases where any oath, affirmation, or affidavit shall 
be made or taken before any register or receiver, or either or both of them, of any local land office in 
the United States or any Territory thereof, or where any oath, affirmation, or affidavit shall be made 
or taken before any person authorized by the laws of any State or Territory of the United States to 
administer oaths or affirmations, or take affidavits, and such oaths, affirmations, or affidavitsare made, 
used, or filed in any of said local land offices, or in .the General Land Office, as well in cases arising 
under any or either of the orders, regulations, or instructions concerning any of the public lands of 
the United States, issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office or other proper officer of the 
Government of the United States, as under the laws of the United States, in anywise relating to or 
affecting any right, claim, or title, or any contest therefor, to any of the public lands of the United 
States, and if any person or persons shall, taking such oath, affirmation, or affidavit, knowingly, will- 
fully, or corruptly swear or affirm falsely, the same shall be deemed and taken to be perjury, and the 
person or persons guilty thereof shall, upon conviction, be liable to the punishment prescribed for that 
offense by the laws of the United States." (See also section 5392, U. S. Kevised Statutes.) 

FINAL AFFIDAVIT. 

I, , having on the day of , 18 — , made a timber-culture entry, 

No. , of the of section , in township of range , subject to entry 

at , , under the timber-culture laws of the United States, do hereby apply 

to perfect my claim thereto by virtue of the seventh section of the act of June 14, 
1878, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to encourage the growth of 

timber on the Western prairies/ " and for that purpose do solemnly • that my 

aforesaid entry was made in good faith, and not for the purpose of speculation, or 
directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomso- 
ever; that I have not heretofore made any other entry under the timber- culture 

laws of the United States; and I do further that the section of land specified 

in my aforesaid entry is composed exclusively of prairie lands or other lands devoid 
of timber, and that said entry was made for the cultivation of timber, and that I 
have planted on said land, cultivated, protected, and kept in a healthy growing con- 
dition for and during the period of eight (8) years last past acres of (here 

describe the kinds) timber; that not less than trees were planted on each 

acre, and that there are now at least (here state the number) living and thrifty 

trees to and upon each acre, aggregating in total the number of trees. 



[Signature of claimant.] 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189 — , at my office in 

County, . 



288 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[4-386.] 
[The testimony of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE PROOF— TESTIMONY OF WITNESS. 
[Act of June 14, 1878.] 
being called as a witness in support of the timber- culture entry of 



No. , for the of section , township , of range meridian, 



in the district of lands subject to entry at , testifies as follows: 

Q. 1. What is your name, age, occupation, and residence? — A. 



Q. 2. Are you well acquainted with , the claimant, and if so, since what 

time haye you known him i — A. . 

Q. 3. If you have personal knowledge regarding claimant's timber-culture entry, 
give the date when said entry was made, describe the tract or tracts, and state the 
number of acres embraced therein. — A. . 

Q. 4. How far do you reside from the land described, and have you had continuous 
personal knowledge of said land and the improvements thereon during the last eight 
(8) years?— A. . 

Q. 5. Was the section embracing the entry of the claimant composed of prairie 
lands or other lands devoid of timber? Describe the land embraced in said section, 
whether undulating or otherwise ; and if any natural timber was growing on the 
tract named at the date of entry, state the kind of trees so growing, and their num- 
ber, situation, and size. — A. . 

Q. 6. How many acres of the land embraced in claimant's entry were broken by 
him during the first year, how many during the second year, how many during the 
third year, respectively, after the date of entry ? State how you know the area or 
number of acres broken. — A. . 

Q. 7. How many acres of said tract were cultivated during the second year of said 
entry, and how many the third year? — A. . 

Q. 8. How many acres of said tract were planted to trees, seeds, or cuttings during 
the third year of said entry? Give the kind or kinds of trees, seeds, or cuttings 
planted; and state how you know the area or number of acres so prepared and 
planted during said third year. — A. . 

Q. 9. How many acres of said tract were planted to trees, seeds, or cuttings dur- 
ing the fourth year of said entry? Give the kind or kinds of trees, seeds, or cuttings 
planted ; and state how you know the area or number of acres so prepared and 
planted during said fourth year. — A. . 

Q. 10. State what was done by the claimant each year, subsequent to the fourth 
year, in the way of replanting and cultivating the tract planted to trees, seeds, or 

cuttings. — A. Fifth year, ; sixth year, ; seventh year, ; eighth 

year, ; ninth year, ; tenth year, ; eleventh year, ; twelfth 

year, . 

Q. 11. How many acres of timber on the tract described has the claimant planted, 
cultivated, protected, and endeavored to keep in a healthy growing condition for 
the period of eight (8) years, last preceding, and from what source is your knowl- 
edge upon this point obtained? — A. . 

Q. 12. Describe the condition of the trees now growing on said tract, giving their 
average diameter and height, as nearly as you can, the kind or kinds of trees, the 
number of trees per acre, and state how vou know the facts to which you testify. — 
A. . 

Q. 13. Has the claimant, to your knowledge, ever made any other timber-culture 
entry?— A. . 

Q. 14. Have you any interest, direct or indirect, in this claim? — A. . 

(Sign plainly, with full Christian name.) 



I hereby certify that the above-named personally appeared before me; that 

the foregoing testimony was read to him before being subscribed, and was sworn to 
by him before me this day of , 189 — , at my office in County, . 



Note.— The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to 
the following act of Congress, which is made by statute specifically applicable to all oaths, affirma- 
tions, and affidavits required or authorized under the timber-culture acts. 

Act of March 3, 1857 (11 Statutes, p. 250). 

"Section 5. And be it further enacted, That in all cases where any oath, affirmation, or affidavit 
shall be made or taken before any register or receiver, or either or both of them, of any local land 
ofiice in the United States or in any Territory thereof, or where any oath, affirmation, or affidavit shall 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 289 

be made or taken before any person authorized by the laws of any State or Territory of the United 
States to administer oaths or affirmations, or take affidavits, and such oaths, affirmations, or affidavits 
are made, used, or tiled in any of said local land offices, or in the General Laud Office, as well in cases 
arising under any or either of the orders, regulations, or instructions concerning any of the public 
lands of the United States, issued by the Commissiouer of the General Land Office or other proper 
officer of the Government of the United States, as under the laws of the United States in any wise 
relating to or affecting anv right, claim, or title, or any contest therefor, to any of the public lauds of 
the United States, and if any person or persons shall, takiug such oath, affirmation, or affidavit, 
knowingly, willfully, or corruptly swear or affirm falsely, the same shall be deemed and taken to be 
perjury, and the person or persons guilty thereof shall, upon conviction, be liable to the punishment 
prescribed for that offense by the laws of the United States." (See also section 5392, U. S. Kevised 
Statutes.) 



[4-073 a.] 

TIMBEE-CULTUKE ENTRY. 

[Commutation under the first section of the act of March 3, 1891.] 
FINAL AFFIDAVIT. 

I, , having, on day of , 18 — , made a timber-culture entry, 

No. , of the of section , in township , of range , subject to 

entry at , under the timber- culture laws of the United States, do hereby apply 

to perfect my claim thereto by virtue of the first section of the act of March 3, 1891, 
entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," and to that 

end do solemnly that I am a bona fide resident of , in the State or 

Territory of , and a 1 citizen of the United States, or have declared my 

intention to become a citizen of the United States ; that my aforesaid entry was made 
in good faith, and not for the purpose of speculation, or directly or indirectly for the 
use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; that I have not hereto- 
fore made any other entry under the timber- culture laws of the United States ; and 

I do further that the section of land specified in my aforesaid entry is composed 

exclusively of prairie lands or other lands devoid of timber, and that said entry 
was made for the cultivation of timber, and that I have broken and cultivated 
said land, and planted, cultivated, and protected timber thereon, to the extent and 
in the manner prescribed in said laws, as follows, viz : , . 



[Signature of claimant.] 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189—, at my office 

in County, . 



[4-148.] 
Final receiver's receipt, No. .] [Application No. . 

TIMBER CULTURE. 

[Acts of March 3, 1873, March 13, 1874, and June 14, 1878.] 

Receiver's Office, , 



18- 



Received of the sum of dollars cents, being the balance 

of payment required by law for the timber-culture entry of the ■ of section 

, in township , of range , meridian, containing TTrTT acres, 

under the acts of March 3, 1873, and March 13, 1874, and the act of June 14, 1878, 
amendatory thereof, entitled "An act to amend the act entitled ' An act to encour- 
age the growth of timber on the Western prairies.'" 

, Receiver. 

'In case the party is of foreign birth a copy of his declaration of intention to 
become a citizen or full naturalization certificate officially certified must be filed in 
the case. 

-Here insert a statement of the acts done, giving the particulars as to areas broken, 
cultivated, and planted in the first, second, third, and fourth years, respectively, 
from date of entry, kind and quantity of trees planted, etc. 

3073 19 



290 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[4-217.] 

TIMBER CULTURE. 

[Acts of March 3, 1873, March 13, 1874, and June 14, 1878.] 

Final certificate, No. .] [Application No. 

Land Office at , 



-, 18-. 



It is hereby certified that, in pursuance of the provisions contained in the acts of 
Congress of March 3, 1873, and March 13, 1874, and the act amendatory thereof, of 
June 14, 1878, entitled "An act to amend the act entitled 'An act to encourage the 
growth of timber on the Western prairies/ " , of , has made pay- 
ment in full for of section No. , in township No. , of range No. , 

■ meridian, containing Tirrr acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known that, on presentation of this certificate to the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office, the said shall be entitled to. a 

patent for the tract of land above described. 

, Register. 



[4-537.] 

[This affidavit can be made only upon the personal knowledge of applicant derived from, his own 
personal examination of the land.] 

TIMBER AND STONE LANDS— SWORN STATEMENT. 

[To he made in duplicate.] 



Land Office at 



{Date) , iS— . x 

I, , of (town or city) , county of , State (or Territory) of 

-, desiring to avail myself of the provisions of the act of Congress of June 3, 



1878, entitled " An act for the sale of timber lands in the States of California, Oregon, 
Nevada, and in Washington Territory," as extended to all the public land States by 

act of August 4, 1892, for the purchase of the , of section , township , 

of range , in the district of lands subject to sale at , do solemnly 

that I am a native (or naturalized) citizen (or have declared my intention to become' 

a citizen 1 ) of the United States, of the age of , and by occupation ; 

that I have personally examined said land, and from my personal knowledge state 

that said land is imfit for cultivation, and valuable chiefly for its ; that it is 

uninhabited; that it contains no mining or other improvements , nor, as I 

verily believe, any valuable deposit of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; that 
I have made no other application under said acts; that I do not apply to purchase 
the land above described on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to my 
own exclusive use and benefit, and that I have not, directly or indirectly, made any 
agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person or persons whom- 
soever, by which the title I may acquire from the Government of the United States 
may inure in whole or iu part to the benefit of any person except myself, and that 
my post-office address is " 



I hereby certify that the foregoing affidavit was read to affiant in my presence 
before he signed his name thereto ; that said affiant is to me personally known (or 

has been satisfactorily identified before me by , , , ), and 

that I verily believe him to be the person he represents himself to be; and that this 
affidavit was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 

Register (or Receiver). 

Note.— Every person swearing falsely to the foregoing affidavit is guilty of perjury, and will he 
punished as provided by law for such offense. In addition thereto, the money that may he paid for 
the land is forfeited, and all conveyances of the land or of any right, title, or claim thereto, are abso- 
lutely null and void as against the United States. 

1 In case the party has been naturalized or has declared his intention to become a 
citizen, a certified copy of his certificate of naturalization or declaration of inten- 
tion, as the case may be, must be furnished. 

2 If the residence is in a city, the street and number must be given. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 291 

[4-371.] 

[The testimony of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case.] 

TESTIMONY OF WITNESS UNDER ACTS OF JUNE 3, 1878. AND AUGUST 

4, 1892. 



being called as a witness in support of the application of 



to purchase the of section , township , of range , testifies as 

follows: 

Q. 1. What is your age, post-office address, and where do you reside? — A. . 

Q. 2. Are you acquainted with the land above described by personal inspection 
of each of its smallest legal subdivisions? — A. . 

Q. 3. When and in what manner was such inspection made? — A. . 

Q. 4. Is it occupied, or are there any improvements on it not made for ditch or 
canal purposes or which were not made by, or do not belong to, the said appli- 
cant?— A. . 

Q. 5. Is it fit for cultivation? — A. 



Q. 6. What causes render it unfit for cultivation? — A. 



Q. 7. Are there any salines or indications of deposits of gold, silver, cinnabar, 
copper, or coal on this land ? If so, state what they are and whether the springs or 
mineral deposits are valuable. — A. . 

Q. 8. Is the land more valuable for mineral or any other purposes than for the 
timber or stone thereon, or is it chiefly valuable for timber or stone? — A. . 

Q. 9. From what facts do you conclude that the laud is chiefly valuable for timber 
or stone? — A. . 

Q. 10. Do you know whether the applicant has directly or indirectly made any 
agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person whomsoever, by 
which the title which he may acquire from the Government of the United States 
may inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except himself? — 
A. . 

Q. 11. Are you in any way interested in this application or in the lands above 
described or the timber or stone, salines, mines, or improvements of any description 
whatever thereon ? — A. . 



I hereby certify that each question and answer in the foregoing testimony was 
read to the witness before signed name thereto, and that the same was sub- 
scribed and sworn to before me this day of , 189 — . 



JTote. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to 
the following section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Govern- 
ment, if it he ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law. 

Title LXX.— CRIMES.— Chapter 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person 
in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will 
testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or 
certificate by him subscribed is trae, willfully, and contrary to such oath, states and subscribes any 
material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a, 
fine of not more than two thousand dollars and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five 
years, and shall, moreover, thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United 
States until such, time as the judgment against him is reversed. (See sec. 1750.) 



[4-274.] 



[This affidavit can be made only upon applicant's personal knowledge, and from his own personal 
examination of the land, and must be subscribed and sworn to by the register and receiver of the 
land district in which the land is situated, or before the judge or clerk of a court of record of the 
county in which the lands are situated, or any commissioner of the United States circuit court having 
jurisdiction over the county in which the land is situated.] 

[Desert-land Act of March 3, 1877, as Amended by Act of March 3, 1891.] 
DECLARATION OF APPLICANT. 



No. 



United States Land Office, 



189—. 



I, , of (town or city) , County of , and State (or Terri- 
tory) of , being duly sworn, on oath depose and declare: That I am a native- 
born (or naturalized) citizen" of the United States, of the age of years, and a resi- 
dent of , and by occupation a ; that my post-office address is ; that 



292 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

I intend to reclaim a tract of desert land not exceeding one-half section, or 320 acres, 
by conducting water upon the same within four years from date of entry, in manner 
as required by the act of Congress approved March 3, 1877, entitled "An act to pro- 
vide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories, " as amended by act 
of March 3, 1891. The land which I intend to reclaim is desert land and is situated 

in county, in the land district, and is described as follows, to wit: The 

of section No. , township No. , range No. , containing acres. 

I further depose and declare that I have made no other declaration for desert lands 
nor any other entry under the provisions of said act ; that since August 30, 1890, I 
have not entered under the land laws of the United States, or filed upon, nor do I 
hold by assignment under the act of March 3, 1891, a quantity of land which, with 
the tracts now applied for, would make more than 320 acres; that I have made an 
actual personal examination of each and every legal subdivision of the land above 
described ; that said land borders on (state what stream or body of water ana describe 

the same) , and that there is through or upon said land (name and describe 

all water courses, springs, or other bodies of water) ; that said land is not 

naturally irrigated or watered, nor overflowed at any season of the year by the fore- 
going or any natural stream, spring, or other body of water ; that I expect to obtain 

my water supply to irrigate said land from ; that the character of the soil is 

; that said land will not, without artificial irrigation, produce an agricultural 

crop of any kind in amount reasonably remunerative, and that it will not, when 
unfed by grazing animals, produce native grasses sufficient in quantity to make 
an ordinary crop of hay in usual seasons; that there are no trees growing on said 
land, but that the same is devoid of timber; said laud does not contain moisture 
sufficient to produce a natural growth of trees; that the same is essentially dry 
and arid land, wholly unfit for cultivation without artificial irrigation; that said 
land can not be successfully cultivated without being reclaimed by conducting 
water thereon; that said land has hitherto been unappropriated, unoccupied, and 
unsettled because it has been impossible to cultivate it successfully on account of 
its dry and arid condition; that it is a fact well known, patent, and notorious, 
that the same will not, in its natural condition, produce any crop ; that no portion 
of said land has ever been reclaimed by conducting water thereon, and that there 
are no lands in the vicinity of this tract that are occupied by settlers and cultivated 
without artificial irrigation. And I further declare that there is not, to my knowl- 
edge, within the limits of said land any vein or lode of quartz, or other rock in 
place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or any deposit of coal; 
that there is not, within the limits of said land, to my knowledge, any placer, cement, 
gravel or other valuable mineral deposit or salines; that no portion of said land is 
claimed for mining purposes under the local customs or rules of miners, or other- 
wise; that no portion of said land is worked for mineral during any part of the 
year by any person or persons; that said land is essentially nonmineral land, and 
that my declaration therefor is not made for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining 
title to mineral land, timber land, or agricultural land, but for the purpose of faith- 
fully reclaiming the land above described by conducting water thereon within three 
years from date of entry. 

My post-office address is . 



NOTES. 

1. If residence is in city, street and number must be given. 

*2. In case the party has been naturalized, a certified copy of his certificate of naturalization must 
be furnished. 

3. When the entry is made on unsurveyed land a correct diagram of the lands applied for must be 
furnished, also a map which shall exhibit a plan showing the mode of contemplated irrigation as 
required by section 4 of the said act. 



Land Office at 



1S9- 



I hereby certify that the foregoing affidavit was read to the affiant in my presence 
before he signed his name thereto; that said affiant is to me personally known (or 

has been satisfactorily identified before me by ), and that I verily believe him 

to be a credible person and the person he represents himself to be, and that this 

affidavit was subscribed and sworn to before me at my office in , on this 

day of , 189—. 



Note.— Any person swearing falsely to the foregoing affidavit or to any of the statements therein, is 
guilty of perjury, and will be punished as provided by law for that offense. 

The officer before wbom the deposition is taken should call the attention of the witness to the fol- 
lowing section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if 
it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 293 

Title LXX.— CRIMES. Chapter 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, 
in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will 
testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or 
certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any 
material matter which he does not believe to be true is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a 
fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five 
years, and shall, moreover, thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United 
States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. (See sec. 1750.) 



[4-074.] 
[Desert-land act of March 3, 1877.] 
AFFIDAVIT OF WITNESS. 
No. .] Land Office at 



-, 18- 



I, , of (town or city) , county of , and State (or Territory) 

of , being duly sworn, declare upon oath : That I am a resident of , of the 

age of , and by occupation a ; that my post-office address is ; that 

I am well acquainted with the character of each and every legal subdivision of the 

following described land embraced in the declaration of , viz : the 

of section No. , township No. , range No. , containing acres; that 

I became acquainted with said land by a personal examination of each and every 

legal subdivision thereof; that I have been acquainted with it for years last 

past; that I have frequently passed over it; that my knowledge of said land is 
such as to enable me to testify understanding^ concerning it; that the same is 
desert land within the meaning of the second section of the act of Congress 
approved March 3, 1877, entitled "An act to provide for the sale of desert lands 
in certain States and Territories;" that said land borders on (state what stream 
or body of water and describe the same), and that there is through or upon 
said land (name and describe all water courses, springs, or other bodies of water); 
that said land is not naturally irrigated or watered, or overflowed at any season 
of the year by the foregoing or any natural stream, spring, or other body of water; 

that water to irrigate said land can be obtained from , a distance of 

from said land; that the character of the soil is ; that it produces a natural 

growth of ; that said land will not, without artificial irrigation, produce an 

agricultural crop of any kind in amount reasonably remunerative, and that it will 
not, when unfed by grazing animals, produce native grasses sufficient in quantity to 
make an ordinary crop of hay in usual seasons; that there are no trees growing on 
said land, but that the same is devoid of timber ; said land does not contain moisture 
sufficient to produce a natural growth of trees; that the same is essentially dry and 
arid land, wholly unfit for cultivation without artificial irrigation ; that said land 
can not be successfully cultivated without being reclaimed by conducting water 
thereon ; that said land has hitherto been unappropriated, unoccupied, and unsettled 
because it has been impossible to cultivate it successfully on account of its dry and 
arid condition; that it is a fact well known, patent, and notorious that the same 
will not, in its natural condition, produce any crop ; that no portion of said land has 
ever been reclaimed by conducting water thereon, and that there are no lands in the 
vicinity of this tract that are or have been cultivated without artificial irrigation. 
And I further declare that there is not, to my knowledge, within the limits of said 
land any vein or lode of quartz, or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, 
lead, tin, or copper, or any deposit of coal ; that there is not, within the limits of 
said land, to my knowledge, any placer, cement, gravel, or other valuable mineral 
deposit or salines; that no portion of said land is claimed for mining purposes under 
the local customs or rules of miners, or otherwise; that no portion of said land is 
worked for mineral during any part of the year by any person or persons ; and that 
said land is essentially nonmineral land. And I further declare that I make this 

affidavit at the request of , and that I am not interested in any way or 

manner, directly or indirectly, present or prospective, in the application or declara- 
tion in support of which this affidavit is made, nor in the land itself, nor in any 
title thereto which may be acquired by said applicant or any other person. 



Land Office at , 

, 18—. 



I hereby certify that the foregoing affidavit was read to affiant in my presence 
before he signed his name thereto; that said affiant is to me personally known (or 
has been satisfactorily identified before mo by ), and. that I verily believe 



294 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

him to be a credible person and the person he represents himself to be, and that this 

affidavit was subscribed and sworn to before me at my office in , on this 

day of , 18 — . 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 

Note.— The officer before whom the deposition is taken should call the attention of the witness to 
the following section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Govern- 
ment, if it he ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law. 

Title LXX.— CRIMES.— Chap. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in 
any case in which the law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will 
testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or 
certificate by him subscribed is true, wilfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes auy 
material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a 
fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five 
years, and shall, moreover, thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United 
States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See § 1750.] 



[4-199.] 
DESERT LANDS.— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 
No. .] United States Land Office, 



-, IS-. 

It is hereby certified that under the provisions of the act of Congress approved 
March 3, 1877, entitled "An act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain 

States and Territories," , of , has this day filed in this office his 

declaration of intention to reclaim the following-described tract of land, viz : ; 

that he has filed evidence to show that the said tract of land is desert land as defined 

in the second section of said act, and that he has paid to the receiver the sum of 

dollars, being at the rate of cents per acre for the land above described. 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 

$ . 

Within three years from the date of this certificate final proof and payment are, 
by law, required to be made. 

Notice of intention to make such proof must be filed by the claimant with the 
register and published in a newspaper designated by him for a period of thirty days 
or in five consecutive issues of said paper, which notice must also contain the names 
of the witnesses by whom the necessary facts will be established. 



[4—372 a.] 

[Final proof under the desert-land act of March 3, 1877, and March 3, 1891.] 

DEPOSITION OF APPLICANT. 

Q. 1. State your name, age, occupation, residence, and post-office address. 



A. 

Q. 2. Are you a native-horn citizen of the United States; and if so, in what State 
or Territory were you born, and of what State or Territory are you now a resident 
citizen? 1 — A. . 

Q. 3. Give the number and date of the desert-land entry heretofore made by you, 
and describe the land embraced therein. — A. . 

Q. 4. State its situation, the character of the soil, its proximity to water, and what 
natural streams, springs, or bodies of water are upon, or pass through, or adjoin it. 
And if any, do the streams or springs afford natural irrigation? — A. . 

Q. 5. Do you own and control, or have you a clear right to the use of water suffi- 
cient to irrigate the whole of the land and for keeping the same permanently irri- 
gated?— A. . 

Q. 6. State the source and volume of the water supply, how acquired by you, and 
how maintained, and at what cost. (Record evidence of the claimant's right to the 

1 In case the party is of foreign birth, a certified transcript from the court records 
of his declaration of intention to become a citizen, or naturalization, or a copy thereof, 
certified by the officer taking this proof, must be filed with the case. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 295 

use of the water, or other satisfactory evidence, in accordance with local laws, must 
be furnished.) — A. . 

Q. 7. State from personal knowledge whether such water has been conducted dur- 
ing any one season upon all the laud embraced in your entry, and if the same lias 
been irrigated and reclaimed from its desert condition to such an extent that it will 
now produce an agricultural crop or a paying crop of hay. — A. . 

<^>. 8. State also the number, dimensions, and carrying capacity of the main ditch 
or ditches, and also of all the ditches on each legal subdivision of the land which 
are used in irrigating the same ; also the cost of the dams and ditches and the amount 
expended in the aggregate, in compliance with the legal requirements, whether it 
equals $3 per acre of the entire area or not? — A. . 

Q. 9. State whether you have seen water distributed through and by meaus of 
said ditches over all the land in each legal subdivision of your entry with a view to 
the proper reclamation thereof; and if so, state the dates when each distribution 
was made and the quantity of water per acre used, and the time occupied in making 
the same, in each and every year. — A. . 

Q. 10. If there are any high points or uneven surfaces which are practically not 
susceptible of irrigation, state definitely the nature, situation, extent, and area of 
the same. — A, . 

Q. 11. Has an agricultural crop of any kind, including a marked increase in the 
growth of grass, been raised on the land as the result of such irrigation? If so, 
state the kind of crop and the quantity per acre, and describe the portion of the 
entry on which the same was raised, showing the aggregate area in actual cultiva- 
tion, whether it equals one-eighth of the entire area or not. — A. . 

Q. 12. If any lands adjacent to or in the vicinity of the land embraced in this 
entry are settled upon or occupied, and paying crops of any kind are or have been 
raised thereon without artificial irrigation, describe the same, and state year or 
years of cultivation, the kind of crop, and the quantity raised per acre. If so, state 
whether the lands producing the same were naturally irrigated. — A. . 

Q. 13. Has any coal or other minerals been discovered on said land, or is any coal 
or mineral known to be contained therein? — A. 

Q. 14. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on this 
land? If so, describe what they are. — A. . 

Q. 15. Have you the sole and entire interest in said entry and in the tract covered 
thereby, and in the right to the water sufficient to continuously irrigate the same? — 
A. . 

Q. 16. Has any other person, individual, company, or corporation any interest 
whatever in said entry, tract, or water appropriation ? If so, give the name, resi- 
dence, and occupation of each such person, the name, business, and locality of any 
such corporation or company, and the nature, amount, and extent of such interest. — 
A. . 

Q. 17. Have yon made any other desert-land entry, or have you any interest, 
direct or indirect, in any other entry under the desert-land act? — A. . 

Q. 18. Describe by legal subdivisions, or by number, kind of entry, and office where 
made, any other entry or filing (not mineral), made by you since August 30, 1890. — 
A. . 



(Sign here with full christian name.) 



Land Office at 



189—. 



I hereby certify that the foregoing testimony was read to the claimant before 
being subscribed; that I believe him to be the person he represents himself to be, 

and that said testimony was subscribed and sworn to before me at my office in , 

on the day of , 189 — . 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 

Note. — A correct diagram, showing the location of all ditches and improvements, must be furnished 
by claimant. 

'Note.— The officer before whom the deposition is taken should call the attention of the witness to 
the following section of the Eevised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Govern- 
ment, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law. 

Title LXX.— CRIMES.— Chapter 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, 
m any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will tes- 
tify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or cer- 
tificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material 
matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not 
more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and 
shall, moreover, thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States until 
such time as the judgment against him is reversed. (See sec. 1750.) 



296 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

[4-074 a.] ■ 
[Affidavit required of parties appearing as assignees of original entrymen.] 
DESERT-LAND ENTRY. 
[Acts of March 3, 1877, and March 3, 1891.] 

I, , of , claiming to be assignee of , who made entry 

No. of the of section , in township of range , on the clay 

of , 18 — , at the district land office at , do solemnly swear that I am a bona 

fide resident citizen of the State or Territory of and a citizen of the 

United States, or have declared my intention to become a citizen of the United 

States; that the said , who made said entry, did on the day of , 18 — , 

transfer his right thereunder to me, by virtue of deed or instrument of writing of 
which a certified copy is herewith attached; and further, that I do not hold by 
assignment or otherwise more than three hundred and twenty acres of land entered 
under said acts, the only lands so held by me being described as follows, and being 

embraced in entries indicated as follows, viz : ' ; that since August 30, 

1890, I have not entered under the land laws of the United States, or filed upon, nor 
has there been assigned to me a quantity of land, agricultural in character, and not 
mineral, which, with the tract now assigned would make more than three hundred 
and twenty acres, except 1 . 

My post-office address is 



(Sign plainly with full christian name. ) 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189—, at my office in 

County, . 



[4-074 b.] 

[Yearly proof required.] 

DESERT-LAND ENTRY. 

[Acts of March 3, 1877, and March 3, 1891.] 

claimant's testimony. 

I, , of ■ , having on the day of , 18 — , made entry No. 

of the of section in township , of range , containing acres, at 

the district land office at , under the desert-land laws of the United States, do 

solemnly swear that during the year after making said entry, that is, after the 

day of , 18 — , and before the day of , 18 — , I expended in the neces- 
sary irrigation, reclamation, and cultivation of said land the sum of , being not 

less than one dollar per acre of the area thereof, and that said sum was expended in 
manner following, viz : ~ 



(Sign plainly with full christian name.) . 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189 — , at my office in 

County, . 



At the expiration of the third year the proof required, as above, must be accom- 
panied with a map or plan showing the character and extent of the improvements 
made on the land, verified under oath of the entryman. 

1 Here insert statement of land and of entries in form following, viz: " of 

section , township , of range , entered by , on the day 

of , 18 — , entry No. , series." 

2 Here insert in detail the extent and character of the improvements made on the 
land. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 297 

[4-074 c] 

"[Depositions of two witnesses in this form required to be taken separately.] 

DESERT-LAND ENTRY. 

[Acts of March 3, 1877, and March 3, 1891.] 

I, , of , being well acquainted with the tract of land embraced 

in the entry, No. , of the of section , in township , of range , 

containing acres, made by , of , on the day of , 18 — , 

at the district land office at , under the desert-land laws, being duly sworn, 

declare upon oath that there was expended by him during the year after the 

date of said entry, that is, after the day of , 18 — , and before the day 

of , 18 — , the "sum of , being not less than one dollar per acre of the area 

thereof, and that the said sum was expended in the following manner, viz : : 



(Sign plainly with full christian name.) . 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this ■■ day of , 189 — , at my office 

i County, . 



[4-373 a.] 

[The depositions of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case.] 

FINAL PROOF UNDER THE DESERT-LAND ACTS OF MARCH 3, 1877, AND 

MARCH 3, 1891. 

DEPOSITION OF WITNESS. 

1. Question. State your name, age, residence, occupation, and post-office address. — 
Answer. . 

2. Q. Are you acquainted with , who made desert-land entry No. on 

the day of , A. D. 18 — , upon the , how long have you known him, 

and where does he now reside? — A. . 

3. Q. Have you personal knowledge of this land ? State its situation, the charac- 
ter of the soil, its proximity to water, and what natural streams, springs, or bodies 
of water are upon, or pass through, or adjoin it; and if any, is any part of the claim 
naturally irrigated by such stream or spring? — A. . 

4. Q. Does the entryman own and control or have a clear right to water sufficient to 
properly and permanently irrigate all the land embraced in this entry? — A. . 

5. Q. State the source and volume of the water supply, how acquired, and how 
maintained? — A. . 

6. Q. Has water been conducted upon the land embraced in said entry so as to 
irrigate and reclaim the same from its former condition to such extent that it will 
produce an agricultural crop? If so, give the numbers, dimensions, and capacity of 
the main ditch or ditches, and also of all the ditches on each legal subdivision of the 
land which are used in irrigating the same, and the amount expended in comply- 
ing with the legal requirements, whether it equals $3 per acre of the entire area or 
not?— A. . 

7. Q. Have you seen water distributed through and by means of said ditches over 
all the land in each legal subdivision of said entry? State the dates when such dis- 
tribution took place, the duration thereof, and the quantity of water per acre used. — 
A. . 

8. Q. If there are any high points or uneven surfaces which are practically not 
susceptible of irrigation, state definitely the nature, situation, and area thereof. — 
A. . 

9. Q. Has an agricultural crop of any kind, including an increased growth of 
grass, been raised on the land as the result of such irrigation? If so, state the year 
when raised, the kind of crop, the quantity per acre, and the portion of the entry 
on which the same was raised, showing the aggregate area in actual cultivation, 
whether it equal one-eighth of the entire area or not. — A. . 

10. Q. If any lands adjacent to or in the vicinity of the land embraced in this 
entry are settled upon or occupied, and paying crops of any kind are or have been 
raised thereon without artificial irrigation, describe the same, and state year or 

1 Here state the extent and character of the improvements made on the land. 



298 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

years of cultivation, kind of crop and quantity raised per acre, and if paying crops 
have been raised, were the lands naturally irrigated? — A. . 

11. Q. Has any coal or other minerals been discovered on said land, or is any coal 
or mineral known to be contained therein ? Are there any indications of coal, salines, 
or minerals of any kind on this land? If so, describe what they are. — A. . 

12. Q. Have you any interest, direct or indirect, in this entry or in the laud 
covered thereby, or in the water supply used in its irrigation? — A. . 

(Sign here with full Christian name.) . 

Land Office at , 



« , 189— . 

I hereby certify that the above testimony was taken and subscribed before me 
this day, and that the same was read to the witness in my presence before he signed 
his name thereto ; that I believe the witness to be the person he represents himself 
to be, and that the land described is properly subject to entry under the desert- 
land act, and that said testimony was subscribed and sworn to before me at my office 
in County, . 



Note. — The officer before whom the deposition is taken should call the attention of the witness to 
the following section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of theG-overn- 
ment, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law : 

Title LXX.— CRIMES.— Chap. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, 
in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will 
testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or 
certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any 
material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a 
fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five 
years, and shall, moreover, thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United 
States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See § 1750.] 



[4-143.] 
DESERT-LAND ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

Receiver's final receipt, No. .] [Declaration, No. 

Land Office at , 



189— . 



Received from , of County, State or Territory of , the 

sum of dollars and cents, being final payment of one dollar per acre for 

the , containing acres, at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, the 

sum of twenty-five cents per acre having been heretofore paid, as per original receipt 

No. . 

, Receiver. 



[4-200.] 
DESERT-LAND ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

Register's final certificate, No. .] [Declaration, No. 

Land Office at , 



-, 189— . 



It is hereby certified that, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved March 3, 
1877, entitled "An act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and 
Territories," , of County, State or Territory of , has pur- 
chased of the register of this office, and made payment in full for the land described 

as follows, to wit : containing acres, at the rate of one dollar and 

twenty-five cents per acre, amounting to dollars: 

Now, therefore, be it known that on presentation of this certificate to the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office, the said shall be entitled to 

receive a patent for the tract of land above described, 

; Register. 

[Note.— See original declaration and receipt No. .] 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 299" 

[4-062.] 
NONMINEEAL AFFIDAVIT. 

This affidavit can be sworn to only on personal knowledge, and can not be made on information and 
belief. 

The nonmineral affidavit accompanying an entry of public land must be made by the party making 
the entry, and only before the officer taking the other affidavits required of the entry man. 



United States Land Office, 



-, 189—. 



, being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that be is the 

identical who is an applicant for Government title to the ; that 

be is well acquainted with the character of said described land, and with each and 
every legal subdivision thereof, having frequently passed over the same; that bis 
personal knowledge of said land is such as to enable him to testify understanding^ 
with regard thereto; that there is not, to his knowledge, within the limits thereof, 
any vein or lode of quartz or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, 
lead, tin, or copper, or any deposit of coal; that there is not within the limits of 
said land, to his knowledge, any placer, cement, gravel, or other valuable mineral 
deposit; that no portion of said land is claimed for mining purposes under the local 
customs or rules of miners or otherwise; that no portion of said land is worked for 
mineral during any part of the year by any person or persons ; that said land is 
essentially nonmineral land, and that his application therefor is not made for the 
purpose of fraudulently obtaining title to mineral land, but with the object of secur- 
ing said land for agricultural purposes, and that his post-office address is . 



I hereby certify that the foregoing affidavit was read to affiant in my presence 
before he signed his name thereto; that said affiant is to me personally known (or 

has been satisfactorily identified before me by ), and that I verily 

believe him to be a credible person and the person he represents himself to be, and 

that this affidavit was subscribed and sworn to before me at my office in 7 

within the land district, on this day of , 189 — . 



Xote.— The officer before whom the deposition is taken should call the attention of the witness to 
the following section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Govern- 
ment, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law : 

REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. Title LXX.— CRIMES.— Chap. 4. 

Sec 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, 
in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will 
testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or 
certificate by him subscribed is "true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any 
material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by 
fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five 
years, and shall, moreover, thereafter be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United 
States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See $> 1750.] 



NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION (ISOLATED TRACT). 

[See page 5.] 
PUBLIC LAND SALE. 

Notice is hereby given that in pursuance of instructions from the Commissioner of 
the General Land Office, under authority vested in him by section 2455, U. S. Rev. 
Stat., as amended by the act of Congress approved February 26, 1895, we will pro- 
ceed to otter at public sale on the day of , next, at this office, the follow- 
ing tract of land, to wit: . 

Any and all persons claiming adversely the above-described lands are advised to 
tile their claims in this office on or before the day above designated for the com- 
mencement of said sale, otherwise their rights will be forfeited. 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 

(Date.) . 



300 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

FORMS FOR ASSIGNMENT OF SOLDIERS' CERTIFICATES RECERTIFIED TO 
OWNERS AND PURCHASERS UNDER ACT OF AUGUST 18, 1894. 

[See page 31.] 

[Form No. 1.] 

ASSIGNMENT BY FIRST OWNER UNDER RECERTIFICATION. 

For value received, I, , of — , in the , and , assignee 

of the original beneficiary to whom the foregoing and attached certificate was, upon 

the day of , 18 — , issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office 

under section 2306 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and the same 



, to whom, as a bona fide purchaser and owner thereof such original certificate 

was, upon the day of , 189 — , recertified by the Commissioner of the Gen- 
eral Land Office under the act of Congress of August 18, 1894, and official circular of 
the General Land Office, dated October 16, 1894, do hereby sell and assign unto 
, of , in the , and , and to his heirs and assigns for- 
ever, the said certificate and the right of entry and location thereby secured, and 
authorize him to locate the said certificate and to enter lands therewith and to receive 
a patent for any land so located or entered. 

. [L.B.] 

Attest : 



[Two witnesses.] 



[Form No. 2.] 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FORM NO. 1. 



On the day of — , 189-, before me personally came , to me 

well known, and acknowledged the foregoing assignment to be his act and deed; 

and I certify that the said is the identical person to whom the within 

certificate was recertified upon the day of , 189-, and who executed the 

foregoing assignment thereof. And I further certify that the said certificate, at the 
time of making the foregoing assignment, was attached to said assignment and was 
presented by and was in the possession of him, the said . 



[Form No. 3.] 
ASSIGNMENT BY ASSIGNEE OF FIRST OWNER. 

For value received, I, , to whom the foregoing and attached certificate 

and right of entry and location thereby secured were assigned, do hereby sell and 

assign unto , of , in the and , and to his heirs and 

assigns forever, the said certificate and right of entry and location, and authorize 
him to locate the said certificate and to enter lands therewith and to receive a patent 
for any lands so located or entered. 

. [l. s.] 

Attest : 



[Form No. 4.] 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF FORM NO. 3. 



On this day of , 189-, before me personally came , to me 

well known, and acknowledged the foregoing assignment to be his act and deed; and 

I certify that the said is the identical person to whom the foregoing and 

attached certificate and right of entry and location thereby secured were, on the 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 301 

day of , 189-, heretofore assigned. And I further certify tnat the said cer- 
tificate, at the time of making the foregoing assignment, was attached to said assign- 
ment, and was presented by and in the possession of him, the said . 



Subsequent assignments may follow Form No. 3 above. 



FINAL CERTIFICATE FOR RESERVATION IN OKLAHOMA TOWN SITES 
(COMMUTED HOMESTEAD). 

[See page 57.] 

No. . Land Office at , , 



(Date) , 18—. 

It is hereby certified that, pursuant to the provisions of section 22 of the act of May 

2, 1890 (26 Stat., 81), and the regulations thereunder , of the town of , 

in County, Oklahoma, has made application for patent for , in the town 

site of , Oklahoma, reserved for public purposes in accordance with the approved 

plats of said town site, said application being accompanied by satisfactory proof of 
the organization of said municipality, and of his authority to make application for 
patent for said reservations. 

Now, therefore, be it known that on presentation of this certificate to the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office the said shall be entitled to a patent for the 

tract of land above described in trust for the municipality of , Oklahoma, said 

land to be maintained for the public purposes, as provided in the act herein referred to. 

, Register. 



{4-072.] 
AFFIDAVIT TO BE FILED BEFORE CONTEST. 

U. S. Land Office, 189—. 

Personally appeared before me, , of the land office, of County, 

State of , who upon his oath says: That he is well acquainted with the tract 

of land embraced in the homestead entry of , No. , made , 18 — , 

and knows the present condition of the same; also that the said and this the 

said contestant is ready to prove at such time and place as may be named by the 
register and receiver for a hearing in said case; and he therefore asks to be allowed 

to prove said allegations, and that said homestead entry, No. , may be declared 

canceled and forfeited to the United States — he, the said contestant, paying the 
expenses of such hearing. 



Sworn to and subscribed this day and year above written before 

, Regisier. 

• , Receiver. 

(Endorse.) 

Also appeared at the same time and place and , who, being duly sworn, 

depose and say: That they are acquainted with the tract described in the within 

affidavit of , and know from personal observation that the statements therein 

made are true. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 189- 



[4-345.] 
CONTEST NOTICE. 



Department of the Interior, 

United States Land Office, 

, 1S- 



A sufficient contest affidavit having been filed in this office by , con- 
testant, against entry No. , made , 18 — , for , section , 

township , range , by , contestee, in which it is alleged that: 

said parties are hereby notified to appear, respond, and offer evidence touch- 



302 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

ing said allegation at 10 o'clock a. m. on , 18 — , before =— (and that 

final hearing will be held at o'clock ni. on , 18 — , before) 1 the register 

and receiver at the United States land office in . 

The said contestant having, in a proper affidavit, filed , 18 — , set forth facts 

which show that, after due diligence, personal service of this notice can not be 
made, it is hereby ordered and directed that such notice be given by due and proper 
publication. 2 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 

PKOOF OF PERSONAL SERVICE. 

, County of , ss : 

, being first duly sworn, on his oath says that he served the within 

notice by delivering a true copy thereof to each of the within-named contestees at 
the following-named times and places, to wit : . 

(Sign.) . 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 



[Under act of May 14, 1898— Alaska, page 113.] 

FORMS FOE DUE PROOFS AND VERIFICATION OF MAPS OF RIGHT OF 
WAY FOR RAILROADS, TRAMWAYS, WAGON ROADS, ETC. 

Form 1. 

• 

I, , secretary (or president) of the company, do hereby certify 

that the organization of said company has been completed ; that the company is 
fully authorized to proceed with construction according to the existing laws of the 

State (or Territory) of ; and that the copy of the articles of association (or 

incorporation) of the company filed in the Department of the Interior is a true and 
correct copy of the same. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my name and the corporate seal of the 
company. 

[SEAL OF COMPANY.] , 

of the Company. 



Form 2. 
State of 



County of • 



being duly sworn, says that he is the president of the com- 
pany, and that the following is a true list of the officers of the said company, with 
the full name and official designation of each, to wit: (Here insert the full name and 
official designation of each officer.) 

[SEAL OF COMPANY.] , 

President of Company. 
Sworn and subscribed to before me this day of , 189 — . 

[SEAL.] , 

Notary Public. 



Form 3. 
State of , 



County of 



being duly sworn, says he is the chief engineer of (or is the person 
employed to make the survey by) the company; that the survey of the said 

1 If the testimony is to be taken before the register and receiver, and not under 
rule 35, the words in ( ) parenthesis should be erased. 

2 If personal service can be obtained, the register should erase the last paragraph 
before signing this notice. 



TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 303 

company's line of (railroad, tramway, or wagon road) described as follows: (here 

describe the line of route as required by paragraph 14), a length of miles, was 

made by him (or under his direction) as chief engineer of (or as surveyor employed 

by) the company and under its authority, commencing on the day of ■ — , 

189-, and ending on the day of , 189- ; that the survey of said land is 

accurately represented on this map and by the accompanying field notes; and that 
this proposed right of way does not lie within 4 rods of the shore of any navigable 
waters, except as showr. on this map. (In the case of a tramway or wagon road, add 
the following: The said line of road does not lie upon nor cross any road or trail in 
common use for public travel except as shown on this map.) 



Sworn and subscribed to before me this day of — : , 189- 

[SEAL.] 



Notary Public. 



Form 4. 



I, , do hereby certify that I am president of the company; 

that , who subscribed the accompanying affidavit, is the chief engineer 

of (or was employed to make the survey by) the said company; that the survey of 
the said (railroad, tramway, or wagon road), as accurately represented on this map 
and by the accompanying field notes, was made under authority of the company ; 
that the company is duly authorized by its articles of incorporation to construct the 
said (railroad, tramway, or wagon road) upon the location shown upon this map; 
that the said survey as represented on this map and by said field notes was adopted 

by resolution of its board of directors on the day of , 189 — , as the definite 

location of the said (railroad, tramway, or wagon road) described as follows: 
(describe as in Form 3) ; that this proposed right of way does not lie within 4 rods 
of the shore of any navigable waters, except as shown on this map; and that this 
map has been prepared to be filed in order to obtain the benefits of sections 2 to 9, 
inclusive, of the act of Congress approved May 14, 1898, entitled "An act extending 
the homestead laws and providing for right of way for railroads in the District of 
Alaska, and for other purposes." ] I further certify that the said (railroad or tram- 
way) is to be used as a common carrier of freight and passengers. 



President of the Company. 

Attest: 

[SEAL OF COMPANY.] , 

Secretary. 



Form 5. 



State of 



County of , ss : 

being duly sworn, says that he is the chief engineer of (or was 



employed to construct the railroad, tramway, or wagon road of) the com- 
pany ; that said (railroad, tramway, or wagon road) has been constructed under his 

supervision, as follows: (describe as in paragraph 14) a total length of miles; 

that construction was commenced on the day of , 189 — , and completed on 

the day of , 189 — ; that the constructed (railroad, tramway, or wagon 

road) conforms to the map and field notes which received the approval of the Secre- 
tary of the Interior on the day of , 189 — . 



Sworn and subscribed to before me this day of , 189 — . 

[seal.] , Notary Public. 



Form 6. 



I, , do hereby certify that I am the president of the company; 

that the (railroad, tramway, or wagon road) described as follows: (describe as in 
Form 5) was actually constructed as set forth in the accompanying affidavit of 
, chief engineer (or the person employed by the company in the prem- 
ises); that the location of the constructed (railroad, tramway, or wagon road) con- 

i The last sentence to be omitted from applications for wagon-road right of way. 



304 TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS. 

forms to the map and field notes approved by the Secretary of the Interior on 

the day of , 189 — ; and that the company has in all things complied with 

the requirements of sections 2 to 9, inclusive, of the act of Congress approved May 
14, 1898, entitled "An act extending the homestead laws and providing for right of 
way for railroads in the District of Alaska, and for other purposes." 



President of the Company. 

Attest: 

[SEAL OF COMPANY.] f 

£ Secretary. 

Form 7. 

State of , 

County of ss : 



, being duly sworn, says he is the chief engineer of (or is the person 

employed to make the survey by) the company; that the survey of the tract 

described as follows : (here describe as required by paragraph 14) an area of 

acres, and no more, was made by him (or under his direction) as chief engineer of 
the company (or as surveyor employed by the company), and under its authority, 

commencing on the day of $ 189-^, and ending on the day of , 

189 — ; that the survey of the said tract is accurately represented on this plat and by 
the accompanying field notes; '(that the company has occupied no other grounds 
for similar purposes upon public lands within the section of [5 or 10] miles, from the 

mile to the mile, for which this selection is made) ; that in his belief, the 

said grounds are actually and to their entire extent required by the company for 
the necessary uses contemplated by the act of Congress approved May 14, 1898, 
entitled "An act extending the homestead laws and providing for right of way for 
railroads in the District of Alaska, and for other purposes;" that the said tract does 
not lie within 4 rods of the shore of any navigable waters except as shown on this 
map, and that to the best of my knowledge and belief there is no settlement or other 
claim along the shore of any navigable waters upon land within 80 rods of any point 
of this tract except as shown on this map. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of — , 189- 

[SEAL.] 



Notary Public. 



Form 8. 



I, , do hereby certify that I am president of the company ; 

that , who subscribed the accompanying affidavit, is the chief engineer 

of (or was employed to make the survey by) the said company; that the survey of 

the tract described as follows: (here describe as in Form 7) an area of acres, 

and no more, was made by him as chief engineer of (or as surveyor employed to 
make the survey by) the said company ; that the said survey, as accurately repre- 
sented on this map and by the accompanying fiold notes, was made under authority 
of the company; that the said survey, as represented on this map and by said field. 

notes, was adopted by resolution of its board on the day of , 189 — , as the 

definite location of said tract for (station, terminal, or junction grounds); x (that 
the company has occupied no other grounds for similar purposes upon public lands 

within the section of [5 or 10] miles, from the mile to the mile, for which 

this selection is made) ; that, in his belief, the said grounds are actually and to their 
entire extent required by the company for the necessary uses contemplated by the 
act of Congress approved May 14, 1898, entitled "An act extending the homestead 
laws and providing for right of way for railroads in the District of Alaska, and for 
other purposes;" that the said tract does not lie within 4 rods of the shore of any 
navigable waters except as shown on this map, and that, to the best of my knowl- 
edge and belief, there is no settlement or other claim along the shore of any navi- 
gable waters upon land within 80 rods of any point of this tract except as shown on 
this map. 

f 

President of the Company. 

Attest : 

[seal of company.] , 

Secretary. 

1 This clause is to be omitted in applications for terminal or junction grounds. 



INDEX. 



[Full-face numerals indicate pages on which copies of laws, or parts of laws, may be found.] 

A. 

Page. 

Abandoned military reservations, disposal of 80-82, 188, 235, 238 

Abandonment : 

Contest for, against homesteader granted leave of absence 92 

Of homestead claim for more than six months after entry (sec. 2297, Rev. 

Stat.) _..._.. 12,93,155 

Of claim after removal of timber, construed 35 

Absence (leaves of) 16-18,173,187,236-237,264 

Contest for abandonment where homesteader has been granted leave of 

absence 92 

Absentee Shawnee lands, Oklahoma 48, 51-52, 229, 239 

Acquisition of agricultural public land, restriction on (act of August 30, 

1890) 5,41,88-89,226 

Acts of Congress : 

March 3, 1857, sec. 5 — Perjury in land cases, and punishment for 162, 169 

June 2, 1858 — Private land scrip 8 

June 22, 1874 — Relief of settlers on railroad lands _ _ 70-71 

January 12, 1877— Sale of saline lands 4,82,163 

February 27, 1877 — Board of equitable adjudication 135 

March 3, 1877— 

Entry of public lands in States having no land offices 95 

Desert-land entries 39-44, 164 

Homestead proof ; amending section 2291, Rev. Stat. - 36, 85, 140-141, 165 
June 3, 1878— 

Cutting of timber on mineral lands in certain States and Terri- 
tories.... 110,112-113 

Timber and stone lands 45-47,165-167,231,255 

Service of contest notices by publication 93 

June 14, 1878— 

Conversion of preemption filing into homestead entry 16, 167 

Timber-culture entry 36-39,167-169,221 

January 28, 1879 — Assignment and location of private land scrip 8, 169 

March 3, 1879— 

Amending section 2403, R. S., relative to deposits for surveys. _. 102, 170 

Additional rights of homestead settlers within railroad limits. 31-34, 

171,183 

Publication of notice of intention to make proof 171, 188 

July 1,1879— 

Additional rights of homestead settlers within railroad limits in 

Missouri and Arkansas 31-34, 172,183 

Relief of settlers on lands subject to grasshopper incursions 16-18, 

173-174 
May 14, 1880 — Relinquishments, preference right of contestants, and 

homestead settlement 13,14,32,39,44,91,174,228 

May 28, 1880 — Osage Indian trust and diminished-reserve lands 47-48, 174-176 
June 4, 1880 — Leaves of absence to settlers in Kansas and Nebraska 

because of crop failures in 1879 or 1880 176-177 

June 8, 1880 — Perfection of claims, where settlers become insane. . 15, 177, 264 
June 9, 1880— Officer before whom preemption and commutation home- 
stead affidavits may be made 178 

June 15, 1880 — Condoning timber trespass, attempted sale of home- 
steads, etc 4,6,26-27,178-179 

June 16, 1880— Repayment of certain fees, purchase money and com- 
missions paid on void entries 19,105,106, 179-180 

3073 20 305 



306 INDEX. 

Acts of Congress— Continued. Page. 
January 13, 1881— Relief of certain settlers on restored railroad lands. 63, 180 
March 3, 1881 — Adding proviso, relative to climatic hindrances, to sec- 
tion 2297, Revised Statutes. 19,23,155,181 

August 7, 1882— Deposits for surveys. 102,159-160,181 

March 3, 1883 — Certain fees allowed registers and receivers 140, 181-182 

May 17, 1884 (sec. 8)— Making Alaska aland district, etc.. _. 3,182 

July 4, 1884— Indian homesteads 34, 183 

July 5, 1884 — Providing, generally, for disposal of abandoned military 

reservations.. 80-82,188 

Mav 6, 1886 — Additional homesteads under acts of March 3 and Julv 1, 

1879 __"_ 33,183 

August 4, 1886 — Registers' and receivers' fees and salaries. _ 140-141, 183-184 
March 3, 1887— 

Registers' and receivers' fees and salaries 140-141, 183-184 

Reimbursement on account of failure of title in Kansas and Ne- 
braska 107-109,184-185 

Adjustmentof railroad land grants and forfeiture of unearned lands. 64-70, 

185-187,240 
October 12, 1888 — Sale of township plats and maps of States and Terri- 
tories , ... 138 

January 14, 1889 — Chippewa Indian lands, Minnesota 48 

March 2, 1889— 

Withdrawal of lands from private entry; second homesteads; leaves 
of absence to settlers; price of certain lands; additional home- 
steads, etc 4,16-17,20,27-29,85,187-188,236 

Great Sioux Indian Reservation 60-62, 189-201 

(Sees. 12-15) — Muscogee or Creek and Seminole lands, Oklahoma __ 48, 

51,204-206,207-209 

May 2, 1890 (sees. 18-25)— Disposal of lands in Oklahoma 48-60, 209-213 

May 26, 1890 — Officers before whom affidavits and proofs may be made. 10, 

12,15,42,95,213,242 

June 20, 1890— Reservoir lands in Wisconsin and Minnesota 63, 214 

August 29, 1890— Amendatory of act of June 22, 1874 71 

August 30, 1890 — Prohibiting one person from acquiring more than 320 

acres of agricultural public land 5, 41, 88-89, 226 

September 29, 1890— Forfeiting certain railroad grants 75-80, 

215-218,219-220,230,246-247 
September 30, 1890 — Joint resolution extending time of payment for 

homesteads and preemptions 10, 25, 264 

October 1, 1890— 

Relief of settlers on Northern Pacific Railroad indemnity lands _ _ 71-72, 219 

Vacancy in office of register or receiver 86-87 

February 13, 1891 — Sac and Fox and Iowa lands, Oklahoma _ 48-51 

February 18, 1891— Amendatory of act of September 29, 1890. ... 79, 219-220 

February 28, 1891— Amending sections 2275 and 2276, R. S 150-151 

March 3, 1891— 

Absentee Shawnee, Pottawatomie and Cheyenne and Arapahoe 

Indian lands, Oklahoma _ . 48, 51-52 

Relating to Crow Indian lands, Montana . 20 

Repealing timber-culture and preemption laws, amending desert- 
land act, and sections 2288-2290 and 2301, Revised Statutes, etc. . 3-4, 11, 
19, 25, 36, 39-41, 47, 85, 88-89, 92, 93, 95, 109-112, 
123-124, 129-135, 140-141, 220, 221-228, 232, 260' 

Amending section 8 of the foregoing act 70, 220 

July 26, 1892— Heirs of deceased contestant. 92, 228 

August 4, 1892 — Making the timber and stone law applicable to all 

public land States 45,231,255 

March 3, 1893— 

Kickapoo lands, Oklahoma. 48-49, 228-229 

Proof in timber-culture entries, and relief of purchasers of land 

under invalid soldiers' additional certificates 30, 36-37, 232 

Cherokee Outlet, Tonka wa, and Pawnee lands. 48, 52-53 

October 20, 1893— Commutation of homesteads on certain lands in Okla- 
homa, and extension of time of payment to certain settlers 52-53, 229 

December 12, 1893— Amendatory of act of September 29, 1890 79, 230 

January 11,1894 — Disqualification of register or receiver to hear and 

determine land cases 94 

July 18, 1894— Amending section 2324, R. S., relative to mining claims. 232 



INDEX. 307 

Acts of Congress— Continued. Page. 

July 26, 1894 — Extension of time for proof and payment 10-11, 

14, 40, 93, 94, 230, 264 
August 4, 1894 — Extension of time for proof in desert-land cases . 41, 93, 231 
August 15, 1894 (sec. 19) — Commutation of lands in Cherokee Outlet. . 53, 234 
August 18, 1894 — Validation of soldiers 'additional homestead certificates 30-31, 

234, 259 
August 20, 1894— Amending sections 2401 and 2403, Revised Statutes, 

relative to deposits for surveys _ 97-103, 233-234 

August 23, 1894 — Abandoned military reservations 81-82, 235, 238 

December 13, 1894 — Location and satisfaction of warrants and scrip_ __ 8, 236 

December 29, 1894: — Second homesteads in certain cases 20-21, 236 

January 19, 1895— For relief, on account of forest fires, of homestead set- 
tlers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan 16, 18, 25-26, 236 

January 21, 1895 — Right of way for tramroads, canals, or reservoirs. 237, 247 
February 15, 1895 — Extending provisions of act of August 23, 1894, rela- 
tive to abandoned military reservations _ , . 81,238 

February 26, 1895— Sale of isolated tracts 5, 238 

March 2, 1895— 

Appointment of commissioners by chief justices of the United States 

courts in Territories 12,15,38,42,239,263 

Extension of time of payment for ceded Indian lands in Oklahoma, 
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and Idaho. _ . 52, 239 

January 23, 1896— Amending act of September 29, 1890 76 

February 12, 1896 — Payment for certain railroad lands 70, 240 

February 26, 1896 — Extension of time for proof and payment on ceded 

Indian lands in South Dakota 11 

March 2, 1896 — Suits to vacate patents erroneously issued to railroads, 

etc 70,95,240-241 

March 4, 1896— Timber- culture proof 38,242 

April 14, 1896— Lands occupied by settlers within indemnity limits of 

New Orleans Railroad 71, 242 

May 28, 1896 — Providing for United States commissioners in place of 

United States circuit court commissioners 12, 15, 38, 42, 242-243, 263 

June 3, 1896— 

Commutation of homesteads _ _. 25,243-244 

Northern Pacific indemnity lands. 72-73, 244-245 

June 10, 1896— Extension of time for payment to homestead settlers on 

all ceded Indian lands _ _ _ 11, 53 

January 18, 1897— Greer County, Okla. , lands 58-60, 245-246 

February 18, 1897— Amending act of September 29, 1 890 79, 246 

June 7, 1897— Extension of time for payment to settlers on all ceded 

Indian lands , _ . 11, 53 

June 23, 1897 — Additional legislation in regard to lands in Greer County, 

Okla 58,247 

April 11,1898— Commutation of Kickapoo lands, Okla 52 

May 11,1898— Rights of way 247 

May 14, 1898— Lands in Alaska 3, 113-129, 248-255 

May 18, 1898 — Abolishing distinction between offered and unoffered 

lands, etc ... 4,255 

June 16, 1898 — Relief of settlers who serve in Army, Navy, or Marine 

Corps in time of war _ 22, 94, 256 

July 1,1898— 

Extension of time for payment to settlers on all ceded Indian lands. 11, 53 

Conflicting claims within limits of Northern Pacific grant _ 73-75, 

256-258 

March 1, 1899— Greer County, Okla. , lands 58, 258 

March 3, 1899 — Payments required for Sioux Indian lands 62 

Additional homesteads _ 27-34 

Acts of March 3 and July 1, 1879, and May 6, 1886, granting additional 

rights to settlers within railroad limits 31-34,171,172, 183 

Act of March 2, 1889, sections 5 and 6, providing for additional entries 

in certain cases ... 27-29, 188 

Act of March 3, 1893, for relief of purchasers of land under invalid cer- 
tificates of right. 30,232 

Act of August 18, 1894, validating certificates of right in hands of bona 

fide purchasers 30-31,234 

Assignment of certificates under act of August 18, 1894 30-31 



308 INDEX. 

Additional Homesteads— Continued. Page 

Forms — 

Affidavit (4—086) 282 

Affidavit (4—065) , soldiers and sailors' additional 284 

Application (4—018) _ 282 

Application (4—008) , soldiers and sailors' additional 284 

Assignment of soldiers' additional certificates of right 300 

Final certificate (sec. 2306, Rev. Stat.) 285 

Soldiers and sailors' additionals — 

Under section 2306, Revised Statutes 29-31, 156, 259 

Rights of widow and minor orphan children under section 2307, 

Revised Statutes _ . . 29-31, 156 

Soldiers and sailors' additional entries on unsurveyed lands in Alaska. 114-115 

Adjoining farm homesteads (sec. 2289, Rev. Stat.) 21,153,223 

Forms — 

Original affidavit (4—066) ... 281 

Final affidavit (4—067) 281 

Adjustment of railroad grants 64-80, 185-187,240-241,242,256-258 

Administrator : 

Applications for repayment 106 

Preemption proof by (sec. 2269, Rev. Stat. ) 149, 264 

Sale of homestead, under section 2292, Revised Statutes 15, 1 54 

Affidavit: 

Nonmineral (4 — 062) required in entries in certain States 5, 87, 299 

Officers authorized to administer oaths in entries and proofs — 

Register and receiver (sees. 2246 and 2262, Rev. Stat. ) 146, 147 

Judge, or in his absence, clerk of court of record (act of March 3, 

1877) 165 

Clerk of court in certain cases (act of June 9, 1880) 178, 263 

Commanding officer, where applicant is in military or naval service 

(sec. 2293, Rev. Stat.) 12, 154 

United States circuit court commissioners (until the office was abol- 
ished by act of May 28, 1896) and judges and clerks of court (act 

of May 26, 1890) 10,12,15,42,95,213,242,263 

United States commissioners in Territories (act of March 2, 1895) __ 12, 

15, 38, 42, 239, 263 

United States commissioners (act of May 28, 1896) 12, 

15,38,42,242-243,263 
Of contest may be made before an officer authorized to administer oaths 91 

Required in all entries under act of August 30, 1890 (4—1026) 88, 89, 272 

Agents and attorneys, regulations governing recognition of 103-105 

Agricultural college scrip : 

Instructions relative to location of 9 

Locating fee, same as for land warrant (sec. 2238, Rev. Stat.) 144 

Location in lieu of payment (sec. 2278, Rev. Stat.) 9-10,24,27,151 

Alaska : 

.Act of May 17, 1884, section 8, creating a land district, providing for 
perfection of mineral claims, and that the general land laws shall not 

apply _. 3,182 

Act of March 3, 1891, sections 11-15, relative to survey and entry of 

townsites 3,129-135,224-226 

Act of May 14, 1898, providing additional legislation 3, 113-129, 248-255 

Section 1, homestead rights . _ - - - .- 114-115 

Sections 2 to 9, rights of way 115-122 

Section 10, entries for trade, etc 122-126 

Section 11, timber on public lands - 126-128 

Section 12, land districts --- 128 

Section 13, mining rights _ 128-129 

Alienation : 

Assignee of preemptor before patent 264 

Attempted transfers of homesteads entered prior to date of act con- 
doned by act of June 15, 1880, section 2, and claimants allowed to pay 

cash for land... 26-27,178-179 

Homestead not salable before claimant is entitled to patent 19 

Settlers may transfer portions of their claims for certain public pur- 
poses (sec. 2288, Rev. Stat.) 19,152,222 

Amendments of applications and entries - - - 90-91 

Changes of entry. „... -- 135-137 



INDEX. 309 

Page. 

Appeals. - -. 96-97 

From action of register and receiver 80, 96-97, 105, 149 

From decisions of General Land Office (sees. 441 and 2273, R. S. ) - - 97, 143, 149 
Applications: 

Applicant must give residence, occupation, and postoffice address 14, 42 

For land in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois _ _. 95-96 

Simultaneous homestead 13 

To contest entries during vacancy in local office. 87 

To enter land covered by existing entry 92 

To enter land during vacancy in local land office 87 

To enter less than is allowed by law 27, 34 

To enter rejected . 96 

Where homestead applicant does not appear at local office 12,154 

Assignee of preemptor before patent . . 264 

Assignees in applications for repayment ..'. 106 

Assignment of certificates of deposit 101, 170-171 

of desert-land entries.. 40,41,44 

of soldiers' certificates of right . . 30-31 

of soldiers' additional homestead rights, uncertified 30 

of warrants and scrip 9 

Attesting officers, duties of 85-86 

Attorneys and agents, regulations governing recognition of 103-105 

B. 

Board of equitable adjudication: 

Object and powers of, defined by sections 2450-2457, R. S 135, 160-161 

Rules and regulations governing 265-270 

Bounty-land warrants, military 6-10,24,27,136,151,160,236 



Canal and ditch companies 

formed for the purpose of irrigation, right of way granted to (act of 

March 3, 1891, sees. 18-21) 226-227 

Cash : 

Entry, change of 135-137 

Entry, mode of proceeding to make 6 

Forms — 

Application (4—001) 271 

Certificate (4— 189) 271 

Receipt (4—131) 271 

Payment, warrants and scrip in lieu of 0.8,24, 27, 151, 169 

Certificates of right, soldiers and sailors' additional homestead 30-31 

232, 234, 259, 300 
Certified copies: 

Revised Statutes relating to (sees. 461, 891, and 2469-2470) 143-144, 162 

Rules and regulations governing the furnishing of _ _ 137-138 

Changes of entry (cash) and location 135-137 

Amendment of applications and entries 90-91 

Cherokee Outlet, Oklahoma 48,52-53,234 

Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands, Oklahoma 48, 51-52, 229, 239 

Chippewa lands, Minnesota 48,245 

Citizenship and naturalization 87 

Climatic hindrances (act of March 3, 1881, amending sec. 2297, Rev. 

Stat.) 19,23,155,181 

Commissioner of the General Land Office : 

Duties of, under section 453, Revised Statutes 143 

Authorized by section 2478, Revised Statutes, to make appropriate regu- 
lations to enforce land laws. 162 

On board of equitable adjudication 135, 160-161 , 265-270 

Commutation: 
Homestead — 

Act of June 15, 1880, section 2 26-27,179 

Act of January 19, 1895, sections 2 and 3 25-26, 236 

Oklahoma lands 50-58 

Section 2301, Revised Statutes 24-25,155,223,243-244 



310 INDEX. 

Commutation — Continued. Page. 

Military bounty land warrants and certain scrip in payment for lands. . 6-10, 

24,27,151,160,236 

Timber-culture entries, act of March 3, 1891 , section 1 36, 221 

Timber trespassers, act of June 15, 1880, section 1 6, 178-179 

Confirmation of suspended entries— 

By board of equitable adjudication 135, 1 60-161 , 265-270 

Under act of March 3, 1891, section 7 __ 89-90,223 

Under act of June 3, 1896 _. 25,243 

Conflicting claims to lands, due to simultaneous applications. 13 

Contests _ 91-94 

Affidavit required in each case _ 91 

Affidavits may be made before officers authorized to administer oaths. _ 91 
Against any entry, location or selection may be instituted for any cause 

sufficient to affect its legality or validity 91 

Against desert-land entry for failure to fulfill requirements of law. _ . 40, 44, 93 
Against desert-land, homestead, preemption, or timber-culture entry 

not admissible after two years from date of final certificate 92 

Against desert-land, homestead, or timber-culture entry for causes 

other than abandonment or failure to comply with law 93 

Against entries for illegality or invalidity may be initiated at any time 

before patent _ 93 

Against heirs of deceased entrymen „ _ _. 92 

Against homestead entry for abandonment _ 93, 1 55 

Where entryman has been granted leave of absence 92 

Within statutory period to submit proof where entryman has earned 

a patent by five years' residence, etc 94 

Against homestead entry commuted for townsite purposes, Oklahoma. . 56 

Against homestead settlers who were soldiers in Spanish war 94, 256 

Against timber and stone entry _ 46 

Against timber-culture entry for noncompliance with law. 39, 93, 169 

Application to contest — 

Must be filed in district office , 91 

Presented during vacancy in local office 87 

Case closed at district office, no additional evidence will be admitted 

except under certain conditions _ 92 

Forms — 

Affidavit of contest against homestead entry (4—072) _ 301 

Notice of contest (4—345) 301 

Heirs of deceased contestant may continue prosecution of contest (act 

of July 26, 1892) 92,228 

Instructions relative to initiation of contests 91-94 

Preference right of successful contestant (act of May 14, 1880, sec. 2) .. 39 

44,91,174,228 
Preference right not acquired if contest is not prosecuted in good faith. 94 
Register's and receiver's fees for reducing testimony to writing (sec. 

2238, Rev. Stat. , and act of March 3, 1883, seel) 140,145,181 

Register's fee for notice to contestant of cancellation of contested entry 

(act of May 14, 1880, sec. 2)_... 140,174,228 

Registers and receivers disqualified to hear causes in certain cases (act 

of January 11, 1894) 94 

Relinquishment filed pending contest 93 

Service of notice of hearing 92-93 

Speculative and collusive contests . . 94 

Contiguity of land, embraced in an entry 50, 88 

Conversion of preemption into homestead (act of June 14, 1878).. 16,167, 187 

Copies, certified _ 137-138,143-144,162 

Creek (or Muscogee) lands, Oklahoma 48, 51, 204-206, 207-209 

Crops, destruction or failure of: 

Leaves of absence for 16-17,176-177,187 

Secona homestead entry for 20-21, 236 

Crow Indian lands, Montana, second homesteads on 20 

Cultivation: 

In grazing districts. _ 14 

In case of death of homestead entryman 15,21 



INDEX. 311 

D. 

Page. 

Death of homestead settler, heirs of (sees. 2291 and 2292, Rev. Stat.) ._ 15, 92, 154 

of preemptor, heirs of (sec. 2269, Rev. Stat. ) 149, 264 

of contestant 92,228 

of entryman, contest against heirs 92 

second homestead entry by heirs, etc., act of June 3, 1896 72-73,244 

timber-culture entryman, heirs of 38, 168 

Debt, homestead and timber-culture claims not liable for (sec. 2296, Rev. 

Stat., acts of June 14, 1878, sec. 4, and March 3, 1891, sec. 1) 19 

39,155,169,221 

Deposits for special surveys 97-103, 159-160, 170, 181, 233-234 

Deserted wife, rights of, under homestead laws 12 

Desert land 39-44,164 

Act of March 3, 1877, providing for sale of, in certain States and Terri- 
tories . ._ 39-44,164 

Act of March 3, 1891, section 2, amending preceding act 39-40,221 

Annual expenditure required 40 

Assignment of entries . . 40, 41, 44 

Contests against 40, 44, 93 

Contests, preference right of successful contestant 44 

Delinquent claimants, notice to _ . . 44 

Declaration — 

Character of . . 41-42 

Corroboration by two reputable witnesses 42 

Map showing contempl ated irrigation, required 40 

Entry, right of, restricted to residents of State or Territory. _ . _ 40 

Entrymen and witnesses must state their places of residence, post-office 

addresses, etc 42 

Extension of time to make proof and payment (acts of July 26, 1894, 

seel, and August 4, 1894).. 40-41,93,230,231 

Forms — 

Affidavit required of assignees (4—074 a) 296 

Affidavit required of witness (4 — 074) 293 

Declaration (4—274) 291 

Declaration, certificate as to filing of (4 — 199) 294 

Proof, annual, by claimant (4— 0746) 296 

Proof, annual, by witnesses (4 — 074c) 297 

Proof, final, by claimant (4— 372a) 294 

Proof, final, by witnesses (4— 373a) 297 

Receiver's final receipt (4 — 143) 298 

Register's final certificate (4—200) 298 

Irrigation, requirements as to . _ 43, 164 

Land subject to entry 39-40 

Maximum quantity of land allowed to be entered and held by one per- 
son or association 40-41 

Notice of intention to make proof 44 

Notice to delinquent claimants. . _ 44 

Officers before whom affidavits, declarations, and proof may be made.. 42 
Payments — 

Price of land. _ ._ 41 

Required to be made when filing declaration . 42 

Military bounty land warrants and scrip locations in payment for 

lands entered 8-9 

Proof- 
Annual, nature of, required 40 

Annual, penalty for failure to file 40 

Annual, third-year requirements » . 40 

Final, requirements as to 41, 43-44 

Final, notice of intention to be published 44 

Final, submitted on unsurveyed land 43 

Period covered by departmental order to be excluded in computing 

time for reclamation and proof 93 

Qualifications requisite to make entry 40-42, 164 

Relinquishment of, how treated 44 

Right exhausted by entry. 43 

Survey of desert-land claims. 43 

Suspended final entries, confirmation of 135, 160-161 , 223, 265-270 



312 INDEX. 

Devisee of homestead claim _ . _ . _ . 15, 154 

Diminished-reserve lands, Osage Indian trust and. _ „ 4, 

47-48, 151-152, 174-176, 227 
District land offices: 

List of 270 

States in which there are none _ , . _ 95-96 

Divorced wife, rights under homestead laws 12 

Double-minimum excess, repayment of (act of June 16, 1880, sec. 2) _ 105, 107, 179 

Double-minimum lands, definition of (sec. 2357, Rev. Stat.) 4,158 

Duties of attesting officers 85-86 

of register andreceiver 138-142, 144-146 

E. 
Entry: 

Amendments of . _ 90-91 

Changes of (cash) 136 

For less acreage than the law allows 27, 34 

Homestead or preemption, where claimant is appointed register or re- 
ceiver (sec. 2287, Rev. Stat.) 152 

Joint, under sec. 2274, Revised Statutes ... 149 

Minor who served fourteen days in Army or Navy during a war can 

make homestead (sec. 2300, Rev. Stat. ) 155 

Not allowed for lands in possession of Indian occupants. 88 

Should not be allowed for land covered by existing entry 92 

Soldiers' and sailors' additional homestead not allowed for land in 

Oklahoma 49-50 

Soldiers' and sailors' additional homestead not allowed for land in 

Great Sioux Reservation 61 

Suspended final and cash, confirmation of 135, 160-161, 223, 265-270 

Equitable adjudication, board of 135,160-161,265-270 

"Erroneously allowed" entry, definition of 105 

Executor: 

Application for repayment by _ 106 

Proof by, of estate of deceased preemptor (sec. 2269, Rev. Stat.) __ . . 149, 264 

Sale of claim of deceased homesteader by (sec. 2292, Rev. Stat.) 15, 154 

Extension of time : 

To make payment on homestead and preemption claims, joint resolution 

of September 30,1890 .... 10-11,25,264 

To make first payment on Absentee Shawnee, Pottawatomie, and Chey- 
enne and Arapahoe lands, Oklahoma, acts of October 20, 1893, and 

March 2, 1895 52,229,239 

To make final proof and payment on homestead and desert-land claims, 

act of July 26, 1894, section 1 14,40,93,94,230 

To make final payments on preemption entries, act of July 26, 1894, 

section 2___ 10-11,230,264 

To make final proof on desert-land entries, act August 4, 1894 41, 231 

To make final proof on homesteads visited by forest fires in Wisconsin, 

Minnesota, and Michigan, act of January 19, 1895 18, 236 

To make proof and payment on homestead claims located on ceded 

Indian lands in South Dakota, act of February 26, 1896 11 

To make payment to settlers on all ceded Indian lands, acts of June 10, 
1896, June 7, 1897, and July 1, 1898 -... 11,53 

F. 

False swearing ..._ 12,45,147,162,166,169,213 

Fees and commissions: 

Certificates of deposit for surveys not receivable in payment of 101 

Consolidated land district, fee allowed register for making transcript 

and for furnishing other record information (sec. 2239, Rev. Stat. ) 145 

Fee for declaratory statement — 

Preemption (sec. 2238, Rev.Stat.). 144,261 

Soldier's or sailor's (sees. 2238 and 2309, Rev. Stat.) 22, 144, 157 

Fee for— 

Furnishing for taxation purposes lists of lands sold (act of March 

3, 1883, sec. 2) .._. 182 

Furnishing township plats and diagrams (act of March 3, 1883, 
sec. 2) -.. 140,181-182 



INDEX. 313 

Fees and Commissions— Continued. Page. 

Fee for— 

Locating warrant or scrip (sec. 2238, Rev. Stat. ) 8, 144-145 

Notice of cancellation of a contested entry (acts of May 14, 1880, 

sec. 2, and July 26, 1892) 140,174,228 

Reducing testimony to writing, or for examination and approval of 
same if taken before other officers (sec. 2238, Rev. Stat., para- 
graphs 10, 11, and 12; acts of March 3, 1877, sec 1; June 3, 1878, 

sec. 3; March 3, 1883, sec. 1, and March 3, 1891, sec. 1). _ 36, 

85, 140-141, 145, 165, 181, 221 
Fee- 
In timber and stone entries, same as in mining claims (act of June 

3, 1S78, sec. 3) __ . 166 

Not authorized for a plat or diagram of a section, or part of a sec- 
tion _ 140 

Of officers, other than registers and receivers, in entries and proofs 

(act of May 26, 1890) 213-214 

Prohibited, if not provided for by law (sec. 2242, Rev. Stat.) 141, 146 

Register and receiver to administer oaths in land entries and sales 

without compensation (sec. 2246, Rev. Stat. ) 146 

Fees and commissions — 

In homesteads, original entries, and final proof (sec. 2238, Rev. 

Stat.) 35,144-145 

In timber culture final proof, same as in homestead (act of March 

3, 1891, sec. 1) 36,144,221 

In certain States 50 per cent additional (sec. 2238, Rev. Stat.) 35, 145 

Not required in Indian homesteads 34, 183 

Not required on homestead entries made under the acts of March 

3 and July 1,1879 _ 33,172,183 

Filing of plats, notice of _ 87 

Filings: 

Desert-land declaration 41-42 

Homestead, soldiers' and sailors' 22-24, 156 

Preemption declaratory statement 148, 261 

Timber and stone, sworn statement . - 1 45-46, 166 

Final Proof: 

Claimant must state his residence and post-office address 83 

Desert land. _ ._ 40-44 

Duties of officers other than registers and receivers, taking __ 85-86 

Duties of local officers acting on proof 86 

Homestead. 14-15,24-26 

Marriage of single woman who made homestead entry does not affect 

her right to make proof _ 12 

Notice of intention to make proof 83-84 

Officers before whom proof may be made — 

Desert land. 42 

Homestead 14-15 

Preemption . _ 263 

Timber and stone _ ._ 46 

Timber culture _. 38 

Preemption 262-263 

Publication of notice of intention to make. _ ._.... 83-84 

Should be made at time and place and before officer named in notice. . . 85 

Timber and stone. 46 

Timber culture. 36 

Without payment not to be received by registers and receivers 86 

Forest fires : 

Commutation of claims visited by 25-26, 236 

Leave of absence for 16, 236 

Forest reservations may be established by President (act of March 3, 1891, 

sec. 24) 228 

Forfeited railroad lands 75-80,215-218,230 

Forms : 

Affidavit (4— 102&) required in all entries since August 30, 1890 272 

Application to enter (act of January 13, 1881, relative to settlers within 

railroad limits) _ 63 

Assignment of soldiers' and sailors' certificates of right 300 

Cash application (4—001) 271 

Cash certificate (4—189) 271 



314 INDEX. 

Forms— Continued. Page. 

Cash receipt (4—131) 271 

Contest — 

Affidavit of, against homestead entry (4 — 072) 301 

Notice of (4—345) _.. _. 301 

Desert land- 
Affidavit (4 — 074 a) required of assignee of an entryman . 296 

Affidavit (4—074) of witness 293 

Certificate of filing of declaration (4—199) . _ 294 

Declaration (4—274) „. 291 

Proof, annual (4 — 0745) , testimony of claimant 296 

Proof, annual (4 — 074c) , testimony of witnesses 297 

Proof, final (4 — 372a) , deposition of applicant _ _ 294 

Proof, final (4 — 373a) , deposition of witness 297 

Receiver's final receipt (4 — 143) ._ 298 

Register's final certificate (4 — 200) 298 

Homestead — 

Affidavit 4— 063 275 

Affidavit 4—065 (soldiers' and sailors') 284 

Affidavit 4—086 ( additional entry) 282 

Affidavit 4— 066 (adjoining farm) . 281 

Affidavit 4 — 067 (adjoining farm, final) _ 281 

Affidavit4— 070 (final) 278 

Affidavit 4— 102 ("nonsooner" required in Oklahoma) _ 276 

Affidavit 4 — 069 (required in entries commuted under sec. 2301, R. S_ 280 
Affidavit 4 — 102a (required of applicants for reservoir lands, act of 

June 20, 1890) _ 285 

Affidavit 4 — 102c (required in commuted entries in Oklahoma) 276 

Application 4— 007. 274 

Application 4 — 018 (in additional entry) 282 

Application 4 — 015 (soldiers' and sailors') 284 

Application 4 — 008 (soldiers' additional) 284 

Certificate as to posting of notice of intention to make proof 

(4—227) 277 

Declaratory statement, soldiers' (4 — 546) , when filed in person 283 

Declaratory statement, soldiers' (4—545) , when filed by agent 283 

Notice of intention to makeproof (4 — 348) 276 

Notice for publication (4—347) 277 

Notice for publication (4 — 347 ) (consolidated notice) 277 

Preemption homestead affidavit (4—071) 281 

Proof (4— 369)... 278 

Proof, five-year notice (4— 343) 285 

Proof, seven (or eight) year notice (4 — 344) 286 

Receiver s receipt (4—137) 275 

Receiver's receipt (4 — 140) , final 280 

Receiver's receipt (4 — 140a), for purchase money, paid in install- 
ments 280 

Register's final certificate (4 — 196) 280 

Register's final certificate (4 — 197) , soldier's additional 285 

Nonmineral affidavit (4—062) 299 

Notice for publication (sale of isolated tract) 299 

Oklahoma town sites, final certificate for reservations 301 

Preemption — 

Affidavit (4— 061) 273 

Declaratory statement (4—534) , for offered lands 272 

Declaratory statement (4 — 535), for unoffered lands 272 

Homestead affidavit (4— 071) 281 

Proof (4—374) 273 

Receipt and certificate (4—536) 272 

Relinquishment required of applicants for repayment under act of 

March3,1887 .. 109 

Relinquishment of warrant or location 9 

Rights of way in Alaska, proof and verification of maps. 302-304 

Timber and stone- 
Proof (4 — 371) , testimony of witness 291 

Sworn statement (4—537) 290 



INDEX. 315 

Forms — Continued. Page. 
Timber culture — 

Affidavit (4— 073a) , in commutation (sec. 1, act of March 3, 1891) . . 289 

Proof (4 — 385) , testimony of claimant and final affidavit . . 286-287 

Proof (4 — 386) , testimony of witness . . 288 

Receiver's receipt (4 — 148) , final 289 

Register's final certificate (4—217) _. 290 

a. 

General rules applicable to different classes of entries •_ 83-88 

Grasshopper incursions, leaves of absence for. .. 16-18, 173 

Grazing districts, cultivation in _ . . 14 

Greer County, Oklahoma 58-60,245,247,258 

Guardian— 

Of infant children of deceased homesteader, sale of homestead by (sec. 

2292, Rev. Stat.)... 15,154 

Of insane settler. 15,92,177,264 

Of minor orphan children of soldier or sailor 29, 156 

II 

Hearing : 

Disqualification of register or receiver 94 

To be ordered in case of protest against timber and stone proof 46 

Service of notice of 93 

Heirs : 

In applications for repayment 106 

Of deceased contestant 92, 228 

Of deceased entryman in case of contest _ . 92 

Of deceased homesteader 15,92,154,236-237 

Of deceased Indian homesteader 34, 183 

Of deceased preemptor (sec. 2269, Rev. Stat.) 149,264 

Of deceased timber-culture entryman 38, 168 

Second homestead entry by, act of June 3, 1896 72-73, 244 

Homestead: 

Abandonment for more than six months (sec. 2297, Rev. Stat.) 12, 93, 155 

Abandonment after removal of timber _ 35 

Additional, by settlers within railroad limits 31-34, 171, 172, 183 

Additional, act of March 2, 1889, sees. 5 and 6 27-29, 188 

Additional, soldier's and sailor's, under sec. 2306, R.S 29-31,49-50,61, 156 

Additional, soldier's and sailor's, rights of widow and minor orphan chil- 
dren (sec. 2307, Rev. Stat.) 29-31,156 

Additional, soldier's certificates of right 30-31 , 232, 234 

Additional, soldier's and sailor's, allowed onunsurveyed land in Alaska 114-115 

Adjoining farm, under section 2289, Revised Statutes 21, 153, 223 

Affidavit required under section 2290, R. S. , character of 13, 1 53, 223 

Affidavit required of settlers who do not appear at district office. 12, 154, 213 
Affidavit required where applicant is serving in military or naval serv- 
ice (sec. 2293) _. 154 

Alaska, regulations concerning entries in 114-115 

Alienation allowed for certain public purposes (sec. 2288, Rev. Stat.) 19,152 
Alienation, homestead not salable before claimant is entitled to patent. _ 19 

Amendments of applications and entries 90-91 

Applicant must give residence, occupation, and post-office address 14 

Application — 

For a homestead. 13 

To enter, rejected ___ _ 96 

To enter land covered by existing entry 92 

Applications (simultaneous) to enter same tract 13 

Claimant appointed register or receiver (sec. 2287, Rev. Stat. ) _ _ . 152 

Climatic hindrances, residence not established within six months 19, 

23,155,181 
Commutation — 

Under section 2301, Revised Statutes ___ 24-25, 155,223,243-244 

Under act of June 15, 1880, section 2 26-27,179 

Under act of January 19, 1895, sections 2 and 3 25-26, 236 

Of Oklahoma lands 50-60 

Contest against.. 92,93,94 

Cultivation in grazing districts 14 



316 INDEX. 

Homestead — Continued. Page. 

Debt, lands not liable to, prior to patent (sec. 2296, Rev. Stat.) 19, 155 

Declaratory statement, soldier's and sailor's 22-24, 1 56 

Descent of vested right under sections 2291 and 2292, Rev. Stat... 15, 92, 154 

Deserted or divorced wife _ . 12 

Devisee, under section 2291 , Revised Statutes 15, 1 54 

Election to enter less than allowed by law . 27, 34 

Extensions of time to make proof and payment 10-11 

14, 18, 25, 52, 53, 94, 229, 230, 236, 239 

Fees and commissions (sec. 2238, Rev. Stat.) 22, 35, 144, 157 

Forms — 

Affidavit 4— 063 (original entry) ... 275 

Affidavit 4—065 (soldier's, original entry) 284 

Affidavit 4— 086 (additional entry) 281 

Affidavit 4—071 (preemption homestead entry) _ 281 

Affidavit 4— 066 (adjoining farm) 281 

Affidavit4— 067 (adjoining farm, final) 281 

Affidavit 4— 070 (final) ._ 278 

Affidavit 4—102 ( ' ' nonsooner " required in Oklahoma) 276 

Affidavit 4—069 (required in entries commuted under sec. 2301 , R. S. ) . 280 
Affidavit 4 — 102a (required of applicants for reservoir land, act of 

June 20, 1890) . 285 

Affidavit 4 — 102c (required in commuted entries in Oklahoma) 276 

Application (4—007 ) . . _ 274 

Application (4 — 018) , in additional entry . 282 

Application (4 — 015) , soldiers and sailors' _ . 284 

Application (4 — 008) , soldier's additional _ _ .- 284 

Certificate of posting of notice of intention to make proof (4 — 227) _ 277 

Declaratory statement, soldier s (4 — 546) , when filed in person 283 

Declaratory statement, soldier's ( 4 — 545) , when filed by agent 283 

Notice of intention to make proof (4—348) 276 

Notice for publication (4—347).... ._ 277 

Notice for publication (4 — 347) (consolidated notice) 277 

Proof (4—369)... 278 

Proof, five-year notice (4 — 343) __ ._ 285 

Proof, seven (or eight) year notice (4—344) _. 286 

Receiver's receipt (4 — 137) 275 

Receiver's receipt (4 — 140) , final 280 

Receiver's receipt (4 — 140a) , for purchase money paid in installments 280 

Register's final certificate (4—196) 280 

Register's final certificate (4 — 197) , soldier's additional- 285 

Heirs of deceased homesteader 15,72-73,92, 154 

Indian 34, 183 

Insane claimant 15, 177 

Joint entry (sec. 2274, Rev.Stat.) ____ 149 

Lands subject to entry 11, 153 

Leaves of absence 16-18,173,187,236-237 

Contest against entry where leave of absence has been granted 92 

Marriage — 

Of single woman who made entry 12, 33 

Of two parties, each having an unperfected homestead entry 12 

Mineral lands not subject to (sec. 2302, Rev. Stat. ) 156 

Minor who served fourteen days in Army or Navy during a war (sec. 

2300 Rev. Stat.) 155 

Minor orphan children — 

Of soldier or sailor. 24,29,156 

Sale of claim in case of death of both parents (sec. 2292, R. S.) 15, 92, 154 

Notice, five, seven, and eight years 34 

Officers before whom affidavits and proof may be made - - 14, 15 

Oklahoma lands 48-60 

Proof- 
Commutation, instructions regarding 24-26 

Climatic reasons preventing establishment of residence within six 

months 19 

Credit for military service _ 22, 156 

Cultivation in grazing districts - - 14 

Devisees 15 

Duties of attesting officers 85-86 



INDEX. 317 

Homestead— Continued. Page. 

Proof— Con tinued . 

Extension of time to make final 14, 94, 230 

Final, instructions regarding... 14-15 

Heirs, compliance with law required of 15 

Insane claimant, perfecting title to claim 15 

Marriage of single woman does not affect right to make 12 

Must be made by claimant or his statutory successor 15 

Notice of intention to make ... 14, 83, 171 

Publication of notice of intention to make 14, 84, 171 

Required on adjoining farm entry 21 

Required on additional entries . 27-34 

Should be made at time and pi ace and before officer named in notice _ 85 

Widow of deceased entryman. 15 

Preemption, conversion into homestead 16, 167, 187 

Qualifications to make entry 11 

Register or receiver, claimant appointed (sec. 2287, Rev. Stat.) 152 

Relinquishments of claims 91, 174 

Reservoir lands 63, 214 

Residence- 
Absence from the land for more than six months 12, 93, 1 55 

Beyond five years not required 94 

By widow, heirs or devisee, not absolutely required 15, 24 

Credit for military service _. 22,94, 156,256 

Requirements under homestead laws. _ 14, 24-26 

Settlers who were in Spanish war _ 22,94,256 

Within six months prevented by climatic reasons 19, 23, 155, 181 

Revised Statutes relating to homesteads (sees. 2289-2312) 153-158 

Sale of claim — 

Before claimant is entitled to patent 19 

For benefit of infant children.. 15, 154 

Saline lands not subject to _ 82 

Second entries ._ 19-21 

Acts of March3 and July 1, 1879 31-32,171,172 

Act of March 2, 1889, section 2 „ 20,187 

Act of September 29, 1890, section 2 20,75,215 

Act of March 2, 1889, section 13 (Oklahoma lands) 20, 49, 205 

Act of February 13, 1891, section 7 (Sac and Fox and Iowa lands, 

Oklahoma) 20, 49 

Act of March 3, 1891 (Crow Indian lands, Montana) 20 

Act of March 3, 1893, section 3 (Kickapoo, Oklahoma) 20,49,228 

Act of December 29, 1894 20-21,236 

Act of June 3, 1896 . 72-73,244 

Settlers on unsurveyed land — 

Act of May 14, 1880, section3__ 13,174 

School sections (sec. 2275, Rev. Stat.) 150 

Settlers who were soldiers in Spanish war 22, 94, 256 

Simultaneous applications _..... 13 

Sioux Indian lands 60-62,189-201,201-204 

Soldiers and sailors' declaratory statements _ 22-24, 1 56 

Stockbridge Munsee Indians 157 

Suspended final and cash entries, confirmation of. _ _ 135, 160-161, 223, 265-270 

Widow, rights of 15,29-31,154,156 

Homestead right, restoration of.. 19-21 

I. 

Illegal entrance upon lands in Oklahoma 50 

Illinois, entry of vacant public lands in.. . 3,95 

Indemnity lands, settlers on Northern Pacific Railroad 71-75 

Indian homesteads .... 34, 183 

Indian lands, disposal of, under special statutes 47-62 

Indian occupants, no entries allowed for lands in possession of 88 

Indiana, entry of vacant public lands in 3,95 

Information regarding vacant public lands to be obtained from district 

land offices, a list of which appears on page 270. 3 

Insane settlers 15,92,177,264 

Iowa Indian lands, Oklahoma 48-51 



318 INDEX. 

Irrigation— Page. 

Of deser t land 43, 1 64 

Right of way to companies for (act of Mar. 3, 1891, sees. 18-21) 226-227 

Isolated tracts: 

Instructions and law providing for public sale (sec. 2455, R. S.) _ . 5, 161, 238 
Form of notice for publication .. 299 

J. 

Joint entry under section 2274, Revised Statutes 1.49 

Justice, seats of, grants for (sec. 2286, Rev. Stat. ) 1 52 

K. 

Kickapoo lands, Oklahoma — 48-49, 52, 228 

Land districts (with office established in each for disposal of public lands), 

States and Territories having _ . 3 

Land offices- 
List of district 270 

States having none 3, 95-96 

Land warrants, military bounty 6-10,24,27,136,151,160,236 

Leaves of absence 16-18,173,187,236-237,264 

Contest against homesteader who has been granted leave of absence 92 

M. 

Maps (photolithographic) of States and Territories, sale of _ 138 

Marriage of woman— 

Who made homestead entry 12 

Right to make additional under acts of March 1 and July 1, 1879 33 

Marriage of two parties, each having an unperfected homestead entry 12 

Married woman may make timber and stone entry in some States 45 

Military bounty land warrants : 

Change of location 136 

Fees for locating (sec. 2238, Rev. Stat.) 7,8,144 

Form of relinquishment of _ 9 

Location and satisfaction of (sees. 2414-2415 and 2437, Rev. Stat., and 

act of December 13,1894) 6-10,160,236 

Location of , in lieu of payment 6-10,24,27,151,160,236 

Not issued for military service in late civil war. 8 

Military reservations, disposal of abandoned 80-82, 188, 235, 238 

Mining claims: 

Act of July 18, 1894, amending section 2324, Revised Statutes, relative to. 232 

In Alaska . 128-129 

Laws and instructions relative to, form the subject of a separate cir- 
cular . . _ 142 

Minimum lands, definition of (sec. 2357, Rev. Stat. ) 4 

Minor children— 

Of deceased homesteader 15,92, 154 

Of deceased soldier or sailor 24, 29, 156 

Minor who served fourteen days in Army or Navy during a war (sec. 2300, 

Rev. Stat.) 155 

Muscogee lands, Oklahoma 48, 51, 204-206, 207-209 

W. 

Naturalization and citizenship 87 

Nonmineral character of land, affidavit as to _ _ 5, 87, 299 

"Non sooner," affidavit (form 4-102) _ 50,276 

" Non townsite " affidavit required in Oklahoma entries 51, 276 

Northern Pacific Railroad indemnity lands, settlers on 71-75 

Notice of filing of plats....: 87 

Of hearing in case of contest 92-93 

Of intention to make proof , publication of 83-84 

Of official action, serviceof - 83,96-97,139 

To delinquent desert land claimants 44 

To delinquent homestead claimants 34 



INDEX. 319 

o. 

Page. 

Offered lands, distinction between, and nnoffered lands abolished 255 

Officers authorized to administer oaths in preliminary affidavits and proof: 

Registers and receivers, sections 2246 and 2262, Revised Statutes. ._ 146, 147 
Commanding officer, where applicant is in military or naval service 

(sec. 2293, Rev. Stat.) 12,154 

Judge, or in his absence before clerk of court of record in final home- 
stead proof . act of March 3, 1877 165 

Clerk of court, in certain cases, act of June 9, 1880 178, 263 

United States Circuit Court Commissioner (until the office was abolished 
by act of May 28, 1896) and judges and clerks of court, under act of 

May 26, 1890 10,12,15,42,95,213,242,263 

United States Commissioners — 

In Territories, act of March 2, 1895 12, 15, 38, 42, 239, 263 

Act of May 28, 1896. 12,15,38,42,242-243,263 

Timber-culture claimant, testimony of, act of March 3, 1896 38, 242 

In affidavits of contest before an officer authorized to administer oaths. . 91 

Ohio, disposed of lands in 3, 95 

Oklahoma. 48-60 

Absentee Shawnee, Pottawatomie, and Cheyenne and Arapahoe lands. . 48, 

51-52, 229, 239 
Act of May 2, 1890, sections 18-25, applicable to all lands in Territory.. 48, 

50, 51, 53, 54-58, 209-213 

Affidavit, homestead, amendment of, necessary ... _ 48 

Cherokee, Tonkawa, and Pawnee lands 48, 52-53, 234 

Citizenship, entry man required to be a citizen at time of submitting 

proof 51 

Commutation of homestead for town-site purposes ... 54-58 

Contest against homestead commuted for town-site purposes 56 

Completion of title 50-53 

Contiguous land, entries required to embrace 50 

Entries, general homestead laws and rules govern with exceptions . 48 

Extension of time for payment 52,53,229,239 

Forms — 

Affidavit, "non sooner" (4-102) 276 

Affidavit required in commuted entries (4-102c) 51, 276 

Greer county lands 58-60,245,247,258 

Illegal entrance upon lands ( " soonerism ") 50 

Instruction s in regard to allowance of entries 48-50 

Kickapoo lands 48-49,52,228 

Muscogee or Creek and Seminole lands 48, 51, 204-206, 207-209 

Owner of 160 acres not entitled to make entry 48 

Proclamation of President in regard to Muscogee or Creek and Semi- 
nole lands 207-209 

Public land strip 48,50,53,211-212,229 

Reservation between each section of land, for highways 51, 212 

Sac and Fox and Iowa lands 48, 51 

Second entries 20, 48-49 

Seminolelands 48,51,204-209 

Soldiers' and sailors' rights '_ 49-50 

"Soonerism" . 50 

Town sites, commutation of homesteads for 54-58 

Osage Indian trust and diminished reserve lands: 

Laws and rules governing disposal of 47-48, 151-152, 174-176 

Not affected by laws prohibiting private entry 4 

Second entries, confirmed in certain cases by act of March 3, 1891, sec- 
tion 23 227 

P. 

Partial waiver of homestead right 27, 34 

Patents : 

Certified copies of 137-138,143-144,162 

Correction of 136-137 

Issue, record, and delivery of _ _ 94-95 

Reservation proviso in, for all lands west of one hundredth meridian . . 88 

Suits to vacate and annul, erroneously issued to railroads 64-67, 

70,95,185,220,224,240 

Pawnee lands, Oklahoma 48,52-53,234 



320 INDEX. 

Payment: Page. 

Certificates of deposits for surveys may be used by settlers in payment 

for land 100 

Certificates of deposits for surveys not receivable in payment of fees 

and commissions . . 101 

Extensions of time to mate — 

Act of October 20, 1893, section 1, for certain ceded Indian lands in 

Oklahoma 52,229 

Act of July 26, 1894, final proof and payment for homesteads and 

desert lands, and final payments for preemption, 10-11, 230, 264 

Act of August 4, 1894, payment for desert lands _ 41, 231 

Act of March 2, 1895, payment for certain ceded Indian lands in 
Oklahoma, and for all ceded Indian reservations in North and 

South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and Idaho 52, 239 

Joint resolution of September 30, 1890, payment for homesteads and 

preemptions 10, 25, 264 

Forms— 

Cashreceipt (4—131) .... 271 

Desert land receipt (4—143), final. 298 

Homestead receipt (4—137) _.. 275 

Homestead receipt (4 — 140) , final ... .... 280 

Homestead receipt (4 — 140a), for purchase money paid in install- 
ments 280 

Preemption receipt (4—536) 272 

Timber-culture receipt (4 — 148) , final _ . 289 

In timber and stone entries must be made at time of proof 46 

Land warrants and scrip issued under act of June 2, 1858, supreme court 
and agricultural college scrip, may be located in lieu of payment for 
lands in preemptions and commuted homesteads. _ 6, 8, 10-11, 24, 27, 151,169 
Land warrants and scrip issued underact of June 2, 1858, may be located 
in lieu of payment for desert, timber and stone, and timber-culture 
lands, and for lands sold at public auction, with exception cited (act 

of December 13, 1894) 8, 9, 236 

Perjury: 

Act of March 3, 1857, section 5, defining the crime in land cases, and 

providing penalty for 162 

Act of June 3, 1878, section 2 (provision for penalty and forfeiture of 

purchase money for perjury in timber and stone entries) 45, 166 

Act of June 14, 1878, section 6, oaths, etc., in timber-culture claims 169 

Act of May 26, 1890 (provision for punishment of perjury in oaths made 

before officers authorized thereunder to administer such) __ 213 

Section 2262, Revised Statutes (forfeiture of purchase money by pre- 

emptor for false swearing) 147 

Section 5392, Revised Statutes, defining and providing penalty for 162 

False oath taken before other officer than register or receiver _ _ . 12 

Plats: 

Notice of filing of . . . . 87 

Photolithographic township, sale of, under act of October 12, 1888 138 

Plats and diagrams, fees for furnishing township (act of March 3, 1883, 

section2) 140,181-182 

Pottawatomie lands, Oklahoma 48, 51-52, 229, 239 

Preemption: 

Abandonment after removal of timber. 35 

Absence in military or naval service (sec. 2268, Rev. Stat. ) 148 

Act of March 3, 1891 , section 4, repealing laws, etc 10, 222, 260 

Administrator, proof by (sec. 2269, Rev. Stat. ) 149, 264 

Alienation of portion of claim for certain public purposes (sec. 2288, 

Rev. Stat.) 152 

Amendment of filing and entry 90-91,135-137 

Assignee of preemptor before patent (sec. 2262, Rev. Stat. ) 264 

Changes of entry, ._ 136 

Contest against 92 

Conversion of, into homestead entry - . 16, 167, 187 

Death of preemptor, who may submit proof (sec. 2269, Rev. Stat. ) . . _ 149, 264 

Declaratory statement, filing of (sec. 2265, Rev. Stat. ) 148, 261 

Executor, proof by (sec. 2269, Rev. Stat.) - 149,264 

Extension of time for proof and payment 10-11, 230, 264 

Forms- 
Affidavit (4—061) required under section 2262, Revised Statutes. ... 273 



INDEX. 321 

Preemption— Continued. Page. 

Forms— Continued. 

Declaratory statement (4—534) for offered lands 272 

Declaratory statement (4—535) for unoffered lands 272 

Preemption homestead affidavit (4 — 071) 281 

Proof (4—374) 273 

Receipt and certificate (4—536) 272 

Fees and commissions (sec. 2238, Rev. Stat. ) 144, 261 

Heir, proof by (sec. 2269, Rev. Stat.) 149,264 

Insane settler, perfection of claim of 177, 264 

Joint entry under section 2274, Revised Statutes 149 

Leaves of absence 16-18,173,187,264 

Officers before whom affidavits and proof may be made 263 

Osage Indian trust and diminished reserve lands, Kansas. . 47-48, 

151-152,174-176 

Payment, extension of time for 10-11, 230, 264 

Payment with warrants and certain scrip 6, 8, 151, 169 

Price of land to preemptors - . 264 

Proof, requirements as to 262-263 

Qualifications of preemptors 147, 261 

Register or receiver, claimant appointed (sec. 2287, Rev. Stat.) 152 

Relinquishments of filings 91,174,262 

Revised Statutes (sees. 2257-2288) relating to preemptions 146-1 52 

Saline lands not subject to 82 

Second filings (sec. 2261, Rev. Stat.).. 147,262 

Settlers on unsurveyed lands, filing for (sec. 2266, Rev. Stat.) 148 

Settlers on unsurveyed lands, school sections (sec. 2275, Rev. Stat.) 150 

Suspended cash entries, confirmation of 89-90, 135, 160-161 , 223, 265-270 

Timber, necessary, may be taken from land cleared for cultivation .. . 35 

Preference right of contestant 39,44,91,94,174,228 

President's proclamations: 

March 23, 1889, Muscogee (or Creek) and Seminole ceded lands 207-209 

February 10, 1890, relative to Sioux Indian lands 201-204 

Price, minimum and double minimum 4, 158, 179, 188 

Private entry- 3-6 

Act of March 2, 1889, section 1, withdrawing lands from, except in 

Missouri... 4, 187 

Act of May 18, 1898, section 2, providing that all public lands in Mis- 
souri are subject to 255 

Change of entry 136 

Law providing for (sees. 2354-2355 and 2357, Rev. Stat. ) 4, 160 

Mode of proceeding to make _. 6 

Private land scrip: 

Assignment, location, and satisfaction of, under acts of January 28, 

1879, and December 13, 1894 8-9, 169,236 

Fee for locating, same as for warrants _ 8, 144-145 

Location of, in lieu of payment 8-9,24,27, 169,236 

Protest: 

Against homestead commuted for town site in Oklahoma. _ _ 56 

Against timber and stone proof 46 

Publication: 

Notice of intention to make proof 83-84 

Service of notice of contest by 93 

Public land States and Territories, list of 3 

Having no United States land offices 95 

Public land strip 48,50,53,211-212,229 

Public lands: 

Acquisition of, restricted to 320 acres 88-89, 226 

Commissioner of the General Land Office charged with the executive 

duties appertaining to the survey and disposal of (sec. 453, R. S.) 143 

Disposed of through district offices, except in certain States 3 

Disposed of through General Land Office (in States having no district 

offices) _ 95 

Information regarding vacant, obtained by application to district offices 

(list on p. 270) 3 

In possession of Indian occupants, no entries allowed for 88 

Secretary of the Interior charged with the supervision of business relat- 
ing to, (sec. 441, Rev. Stat.) 143 

3073 21 



322 INDEX. 

Public Lands— Continued. Page. 

Squatters have no right to cut timber from. 35 

States and Territories containing 3 

Public sale of lands ' [ 3-6 

Abandoned military reservations 80-82 

Act of March 3, 1891, sections 9 and 10, prohibiting, exceut in certain 

cases.. _"_ 3-4,224 

Change of entry.... . 136 

Isolated tracts , 5, 161,238 

Payment — warrants and scrip in lieu of cash 8-11 

Revised Statutes, sections 2353, 2357-2360, providing for 3, 158 

R. 

Railroad adjustments 64-80 

let of March 3, 1887, adjustment of grants and forfeiture of unearned 
lands 64-70,185-187 

Act of June 22, 1874 (and amendatory act of August 29, 1890), for relief 

of settlers on railroad lands 70-71 

Act of September 29, 1890, forfeiting railroad lands 75-80, 215-218 

Act of March 2, 1896 (extension of time to vacate patents erroneously 

issued to railroads, etc. ) ... 70,95,240-241 

Act of April 14, 1896, relinquishment of lands by New Orleans Pacific 

Railroad 71,242 

Act of July 1, 1898, conflicting claims within NorthernPacific grant. _ 73-75, 

256-258 

Railroad limits (rights of settlers within) 64-80 

Act of June 22, 1874 (amended by act of August 29, 1890), relief of set- 
tlers on railroad lands _ 70-71 

Act of March 3 (and July 1), 1879, and May 6, 1886, additional rights 

to homestead settlers 31-34,171,172,183 

Act of January 13, 1881— 

Relief of settlers on lands restored to public domain 63, 180 

Form of application to enter 63 

Act of March 3, 1887— 

Adjustment of grants and forfeiture of unearned lands. _ 64-70, 185-187 

Classes of persons affected _ 65-66, 68 

Contest by adverse claimant instituted as in ordinary contests 68 

Homestead . and pre-emption entries erroneously canceled on ac- 
count of grants, may be reinstated, with exceptions cited 68 

Status of purchasers of lands from companies, erroneously certified 

on grants. 68-69 

Status of settlers on lands, erroneously certified on grants 67-68 

Act of February 1 2, 1896, in regard to purchase price 240 

Reimbursement for failure of title in Kansas and Nebraska 107-109, 

184-185 
Act of September 29, 1890— 

Forfeiting certain lands, granted to States and corporations to aid 

in construction of railroads, etc 75-80,215-218 

Period within which applications to purchase and homestead en- 
tries may be made, fixed by act of February 18, 1891 79, 219-220 

Section 2, preference right of actual settlers at date of act, to make 

entries under homestead law _ 75 

Section 3, option to purchasers from grantees, or their assignees... 75-76 
Time for purchase extended by acts of December 12, 1893, and Feb- 
ruary 18,1897 75-76,79,230,246 

Section 5, purchasers from Northern Pacific Railroad Company ... 77 
Act of October 1, 1890, making provision for homesteaders and pre- 

emptors on Northern Pacific indemnity lands 71-72, 219 

Act of January 23, 1896, amending section 3, act of September 29, 1890. 76 

Act of February 12, 1896, payment for lands 70, 240 

Act of April 14, 1896, relief of settlers within indemnity limits of grant 

to New Orleans Pacific Railroad 71,242 

Act of June 3, 1896, for relief of settlers on Northern Pacific indemnity 

lands 72-73,244-245 

Act of July 1, 1898, conflicting claims within Northern Pacific grant. 73-75, 

256-258 

Receiving clerk, designation and duty of (sec. 461, Rev. Stat. ) 143 

Recertiftcation of soldiers and sailors' certificates of right 30-31, 234, 259 

Records, etc., exemplification of 137-138, 143-144, 162 



INDEX. 323 

Registers and Receivers : Page. 

Appointment and term of service (sees. 2234-2236 and 2244, R. S... 144,146 

Disqualified to hear land cases nnder certain circumstances 94 

Duties of local officers 138-142 

Attendance at their offices 138 

In acting on applications for amendment 90-91 

In acting on applications for entry 138 

In acting on applications for extensions of time for payment 11 

In acting on applications for leaves of absence 16-18 

In acting on certificates of deposits for surveys when used in payment 

for land 101 

In acting on desert-land entries 42-43 

In acting on proofs transmitted by attesting officers - 86 

In acting on rejected applications and appeals __ 96-97 

In acting on relinquishments 91 

In acting on timber and stone entries 46 

Notations to be made on tract books, place of residence and post- 
office address of homestead applicant 14 

Notations to be made on tract books, post-office addresses of desert- 
land applicants, claimants and witnesses 42 

Notations to be made on relinquishments 91 

Notations to be made on allowance of additional entries 28, 30 

Reports upon cases where appeals are filed _ 96-97 

Reports, special „ 139 

Residence of register and receiver (sec. 2235, Rev. Stat.) 144 

To furnish township plats and diagrams. 181-182 

To administer oaths (sec. 2246, Rev. Stat. ) 146 

To keep a list of attorneys and agents 104 

Statement of accounts, monthly and quarterly ,.. 142, 146 

Homestead or preemption settler appointed register or receiver (sec. 

2287, Rev. Stat.) 152 

Penalty for false information by register (sec. 2247, Rev. Stat. ) 146 

Revised Statutes, sees. 2234-2247, relative to 144-146 

Salaries of local officers — 

Allowed $500 each per annum, and also certain fees and commissions 

(sees. 2237-2238, Rev. Stat.) _ 144 

Not to exceed $3,000 each per annum, from any source (sec. 2240, 
R. S., and acts of August 4, 1886, and March 3, 1887). 141,146, 183-184 

Penalty for charging illegal fees (sec. 2242, Rev. Stat.) 141, 146 

Vacancy in office, provision for settlers in case of 86-87 

Reimbursement for failure of title in Kansas and Nebraska (act of March 

3, 1887) 107-109,184-185 

Rejected applications to make entry 96 

Relinquishments - .... 91 

Act of May 14, 1880, section 1, relative to, of preemption, homestead, and 

timber-culture claims 91, 174,262 

Filed in desert-land claims acted upon same as in homestead and other 

claims 44 

Filed pending contests 93 

Offering of timber-culture relinquishments for sale regarded as evidence 

ofbadfaith '. .._.._. .... 38 

Run only to United States 91 

Repayment: 

Applications for, requirements as to 105-106 

Applications by heirs, executors, administrators, and assignees 106 

Definition of " erroneously allowed " ... 105 

Of double minimum excess (act of June 16, 1880, section 2) 107, 179 

Of excesses of deposits for special surveys (sees. 2402 and 2403, Rev. 

Stat.) 98,100-101 

Of fees, commissions, and excesses paid by innocent parties on fraudu- 
lent and void soldier's additional entries (act of June 16, 1880, sec- 
tion 1) 106-107,179 

Of money paid for land erroneously sold so that sale can not be con- 
firmed (sees. 2362-2363, Rev.Stat.). 105,159 

Of purchase money, fees, and commissions paid on void entries (act of 

June 16, 1880, section 2) 19,105,179 

Not allowed where land purchased under act of June 15, 1880, is paid 

for with warrants or scrip 27 

Reimbursement for failure of title in Kansas and Nebraska, act of 
March 3, 1887 107-109,184-185 



324 INDEX. 

Page. 

Reservation proviso in patents for all lands west of 100th meridian _ 88 

Reservations, abandoned military 80-82, 188, 235, 238 

Reservoir lands in Wisconsin and Minnesota _. 63,214 

Special affidavit required (form 4 — 102a) _ _ 63, 285 

Reservoir sites, act of March 3, 1891, section 17, in relation to.. _. 88, 226 

Residence: 

By widow, heirs, or devisee of a deceased homesteader not absolutely 

required ,_ 15,24 

Credit for military service in homesteads __ 22, 94, 1 56, 256 

Five years' continuous, required under sec. 2291, Rev. Stat 14, 154 

Homestead settlers who were engaged in Spanish war 22, 94, 256 

Must be established within six months from date of homestead entry.. 14 
Not established on homestead within six months because of climatic 

hindrances (sec. 2297, Rev. Stat., as amended by act of March 3, 1881) _ 19, 

23,155,181 

Not required on homestead beyond a period of five years 94 

Occasional visits do not constitute 14 

Where party is in military service, section 2308 1 57 

Restoration of homestead right ■__ 19-21 

Restriction on acquisition of title to agricultural public land (act of 

August 30, 1890) 5,41,88-89,226 

Revised Statutes : 

Section 441 (duties of the Secretary of the Interior) 97, 143 

Section 453 (duties of the Commissioner of the General Land Office) _ . . 143 

Section 458 (duties of the Recorder of the General Land Office) 94 

Sections 461, 891, and 2469-2470 (exemplifications of patents, records, 

etc.) 137,143-144,162 

Section 2223 (general duties of surveyors-general) 124 

Sections 2234-2247 and 2295 (registers and receivers) 3, 144-146, 155 

Section 2238 (fees and commissions) 7, 35, 36, 101, 140, 144-145 

Section 2239 (additional fees, consolidated land office) 145 

Section 2242 (penalty for collecting illegal fees) 141, 146 

Section 2246 (administration of oaths bv registers and receivers without 

charge) \_ 140,146 

Sections 2257-2288 (preemptions) _ 146-152,222 

Section 2259 (preemption right) 147 

Section 2262 (preemption affidavit) _ 147,178 

Section 2273 (appeals) 97,149 

Sections 2275-2276 (settlements on unsurveyed lands found to be em- 
braced in school sections) 150-151,222 

Sections 2277-2278 (warrants and scrip in preemption payments) __ 7, 10, 151 
Sections 2283-2285 (Osage Indian trust and diminished reserve lands in 

Kansas) 151-152 

Section 2287 (homestead or preemption settler appointed register or 

receiver) 152 

Section 2288 (transfers by settlers of portions of their claims for certain 

public purposes) 14,19,152,222 

Sections 2289-2312 (homesteads) 32,153-158 

Section 2289 (homestead right) 11,21,32,153,223 

Section 2290 (mode of procedure to make homestead entry) 1 53, 223 

Section 2291 (homestead, five-year proof, certificate, patent, descent of 

vested right) 14,15,154,165 

Section 2292 (sale of homestead for benefit of minor orphan children) . 15, 154 
Section 2293 (affidavits of homestead applicants who are in the military 

or naval service) 12, 154 

Section 2294 (to make homestead entry without nersonal attendance at 

district office) _\_ 12,154,213 

Section 2296 (nonliability of homesteads to satisfaction of debts) 19, 155 

Section 2297 (abandonment of homesteads) 12, 19, 1 55, 181 

Section 2298 (limitation of homestead right as to amount of land) — 19, 155 
Section 2301 (payment for homesteads before expiration of five years) . _ 24-25, 

51,155,178,223 

Sections 2304-2309 (soldiers and sailors' homesteads) _. 1 56-1 57 

Section 2304 (soldiers and sailors' homestead rights) 22-24, 49, 1 56 

Section 2305 (deduction of time of military and naval service from 

period of homestead residence) 22,49, 156,199 

Section 2306 (soldiers and sailors' additional homesteads) 29-31, 

49,156,179,234,259 



INDEX. 325 

Revised Statutes— Continued. Page. 

Section 2307 (widows and minor orphan children of soldiers and sailors) 24, 

29,49,156 

Section 2309 (filings of soldiers or sailors by agents) 22, 1 57 

Sections 231.0-2312 (Stockbridge Munsee Indians) 157 

Sections 2347-2352 (coal land entries) 102 

Sections 2353-2355, 2357-2360 (public sales and private entries of lands) _ 3-4, 

41,158 

Section 2357 (minimum price per acre for public lands) 3-4, 158, 264 

Sections 2362 and 2363 (repayment of purchase money for land erro- 
neously sold) ._ 105, 159 

Sections 2369-2372 (changes of entry) 135-136 

Sections 2387-2389 (town-site entries) 59, 129, 206, 224 

Sections 2401-2403 (special surveys and deposits for) 97-98, 

102,103,159,170,181,233 

Sections 2414-2415 and 2437 (military bounty land warrants) 6-7, 160 

Sections 2450-2454 and 2456-2457 (board of equitable adjudication) 135, 

160-161,265-270 

Section 2455 (sale of isolated tracts) 5, 161, 238 

Section 2461 (cutting of timber on lands of the United States) 112, 128 

Sections 2469 T 2470 (certified copies of records, books, etc.) 137-138, 162 

Section 2478 (Commissioner to enforce land laws by making appropriate 

regulations) - .. 162 

Section 5392 (definition of and penalty for perjury) 162-163 

Right of way: 

For irrigation, act of March 3 , 1891 , sections 18-21 226-227 

For tramroads, canals, or reservoirs (act of January 21, 1895) 237 

Act of May 11 , 1898, amending preceding act 247 

Over Alaska lands 115-122 

Rules of practice printed in separate circular 93 

S. 

Sac and Fox lands, Oklahoma 48-51 

Sale of homestead before claimant is entitled to patent . 19 

Saline lands, or salt springs 82-83 

Disposal of, under act of January 12, 1877 82-83, 163 

Law does not apply to Territories nor to certain States 83 

Law not repealed by act of March 2, 1889 4, 82 

Not subject to homestead or preemption entry _. 82 

School sections, settlers on lands before survey found to be embraced in 

(sec. 2275, Rev. Stat.) 150 

Scrip : 

Agricultural college 9-10,24,27,144,151 

Change of location _ _ ___ 136 

Private land 8-9,24,27,144-145,169,236 

Supreme court 8, 27 

Second homestead entries 19-21, 31-32, 48-49, 72-73, 75 

Secretary of the Interior, duties of, under section 441, Revised Statutes. . 143 

Seminole lands, Oklahoma _. 48,51,204-206,207-209 

Service of notice of official action 83, 96, 139 

Settlement 14,261 

Settlers : 

Becoming insane, provision for (act of June 8, 1880) 15, 177, 264 

On unsurveyed lands (act of May 14, 1880) 13,14,174 

On unsurveyed lands, school sections (sec. 2275, Rev. Stat. ) 1 50 

Right to use of timber on public lands 110 

Within railroad limits 31-33,63,70-80 

Sickness : 

Leave of absence for 16-17, 187 

Second homestead entry, act of December 29, 1894 20-21, 236 

Simultaneous applications to enter same tract of land 13 

Sioux Indian Reservation: 60-62,189-201,201-204 

Act of March 2, 1889 60,189-201 

Section 21, restoring ceded lands to public domain to be disposed of 
under homestead and town-site laws, with certain modifications. . 61-62, 

198-199 

Act of March 3, 1899, in regard to payment. 62 

Additional payment required of entrymen (not collected upon entry, but 
when proof is tendered) 61 



326 INDEX. 

Sioux Indian Reservation — Continued. Page. 

Commutation provision of homestead law (sec. 2301, Rev. Stat.) made 
applicable to ceded portion in South Dakota (act of March 3, 1891, 

sec. 6) 25,61-62,223 

Land reserved by section 16 of act for Dakota Central Railroad Com- 
pany, made subject to town-site entry only (act of March 3, 1891, sec. 

22) .... 194-196,227 

President's proclamation of February 10, 1890 201-204 

Price of land to homesteaders: 

Section 21 of act 61-62,198-199 

Act of March 3, 1899 _. 62 

Becomes fixed upon first entry thereof 61 

Settlers on what was known as Crow Creek and Winnebago Reservation 

(sec. 23 of act) ... 62,199-200,203 

Town-site entries may be made in accordance with circular of July 9, 

1886 __ __ 62 

Soldiers and sailors' homesteads: 

Credit for military or naval service (sec. 2305, Rev. Stat.) 21,24,49, 156 

Act of June 16, 1898, soldiers in Spanish war _ _ _ 22, 94, 256 

Declaratory statement — 

Filing of, does not bar other filings and entries. _ 23 

Filing of, exhausts right . 23 

May be filed by agent or in person (sec. 2309, Rev. Stat.) 22, 157 

Entry by guardian of minor orphan children 24, 29, 156 

Entry must be made by soldier or sailor and not by agent 23 

Entry must be made within six months from filing of declaratory state- 
ment (sees. 2304 and 2309, Rev. Stat.) 22,23,156-157 

Entry not made within six months because of climatic hindrances 23 

Entry not made within six months may be allowed afterwards in cer- 
tain cases where no adverse right has intervened 23 

Entryman must reside upon, improve, and cultivate homestead for at 

least one year 22, 156 

Evidence of military or naval service required of applicant to make 

entry _ „_ 22 

Forms- 
Application (4—015) _. 284 

Declaratory statement, when filed in person (4 — 546) 283 

Declaratory statement, when filed by agent (4 — 545) 283 

Final affidavit (4—065) 284 

Revised Statutes (sees. 2304-2309) providing for 1 56-1 57 

Rights of widows and minor orphan children _ 24,156 

Settlement and improvements, claimant allowed six months after filing 

claim within which to commence 22, 155 

Soldiers and sailors' rights in Oklahoma 49-50 

Soldiers and sailors' additional homesteads 29-31 

Act of March 3, 1893, relief of purchasers of land under invalid certifi- 
cates of right 30,232 

Act of August 18, 1894, validating certificates of right in hands of bona 

fide purchasers 30-31,234 

Alaska unsurveyed lands, entries allowed for 114-115 

Assignment of certificates under act of August 18, 1894 30-31 

Certification of right discontinued 29 

Circular of February 18, 1890, uncertified rights 259 

Circular of December 4, 1896, certified rights 256 

Forms — 

Application to enter (4—008) 284 

Assignment of certificates under act of August 18, 1894. 300-301 

Final certificate (4—197) 285 

Oklahoma lands not subject to 49-50 

Right of entry defined by section 2306, Revised Statutes 29, 1 56 

Right of entry extended by section 2307, Revised Statutes, to widow, if . 

unmarried, otherwise to minor orphan children by guardian 29, 157 

Right of entry is transferable . 29 

Sioux lands not subject to - 61 

" Soonerism," Oklahoma homesteads 50 

Spanish war, settlers who were soldiers in ; 22, 94, 256 

Special surveys, deposits for 97-103,159-160,170,181,233-234 

Squatters upon public lands have no right to cut timber 35 



INDEX. 327 

States: Pa e e - 

In which there are no land offices . 95-96 

Within which public lands are located . _ _ 3 

Stockbridge Munsee Indians (sees. 2310-2312, Rev. Stat.) 157 

Stone land. (Timber and stone land) 45-47, 165-167, 231 

Supreme Court scrip - 8,29 

Surveys, deposits for special: 

Act of March 3, 1879, amending section 2403, Revised Statutes 170 

Act of August 7, 1882, adding proviso to section 2403, Revised Statutes. 181 
Act of August 20, 1894, amending sections 2401 and 2403, Revised Stat- 
utes, relative to _ --- 97-98,233 

Applications for surveys — 

By coal claimants . 102-103 

By owners or grantees 103 

By settlers 98-100 

Assignment of certificates of deposit 101 

Certificates may be used by settlers in paying for land 100 

Certificates not receivable in payment of fees and commissions 101 

Duties of register and receiver when certificates are used to pay for 

land 101-102 

Repayment of excess of deposit 98, 100-101 

Revised Statutes (2401-2403) relative to 98, 1 59 

Surveys of desert-land claims - 43 

Suspended entries: 

Confirmation of, by Board of Equitable Adjudication.. 135, 160-161, 265-270 
Confirmation of, under section 7, act of March 3, 1891 89-90, 223 

T. 

Timber and stone land. 45-47 

Act of June 3, 1878, providing for disposal of, in certain States 45-47, 

165-167 
Act of August 4, 1892, making act of June 3, 1878, applicable to all pub- 
lic-land States.... . 45,231 

Act of May 18, 1898, abolishing distinction between offered and unof- 

feredland... . 255 

Contest against claimant 46 

Entry by an association of persons 45, 47, 165 

Entry- 
Character of sworn statement required 45, 47, 1 66 

May be made by married woman in certain States 45 

Or filing, only one allowed to any person or association ... 47, 165 

Fees in entries same as in mining claims (act of June 3, 1878, sec. 3) _. 166 
Forms — 

Sworn statement (4—537) 290 

Testimony of witnesses (4—371) 291 

Lands which may be entered as ._ 45, 165 

One person or association limited to 160 acres, which must be in one 

body 45 

Payment for land must be made at time of offering proof 46 

Payment, warrants and scrip in lieu of cash 8 

Price of land 165 

Perjury for false swearing 166 

Proof- 
Evidence must be taken before register and receiver 46, 166 

Fees for reducing testimony to writing (sec. 2238, Rev. Stat., pars. 

10, 11, and 12, and act of June 3, 1878, sec. 3) .145,166 

Publication of notice of intention to make. 45, 166 

Protest against proof, hearing to be ordered 46 

Qualifications requisite to make entry for 45, 165 

Sworn statement, filing of ... 45-46, 166 

Timber culture 36-39,167-169 

Act of June 14, 1878, to encourage the growth of timber on the western 

prairies 36-39,167-169 

Act of March 3, 1891, section 1, repealing timber-culture laws and provid- 
ing for perfection of existing claims ... 36, 221 

Act of March 3, 1893, modifying requirements as to trees 36-37, 232 

Act of March 4, 1896, claimant's testimony 38, 242 

Commutation, right of, under act of March 3, 1891, section 1 36, 221 



328 INDEX. 

Timber Culture— Continued. Page. 

Contests 39,92,93 

Preference right of successful contestant 39 

Cultivation and planting required 36-37, 168, 232 

Debt, claim not liable for, prior to patent 39, 169, 221 

Fees and commissions in proof, act of March 3, 1891, section 1 .. 36, 144, 221^ 
Forms — 

Affidavit (4— 073a) in commutation 289^ 

Receiver's final receipt (4—148). 289~^- 

Register's final certificate (4—217) . 290 

Testimony and final affidavit of claimant (4 — 385) 286-287 

Testimony of witnesses (4—386) _ 288 

Heirs, etc., of deceased entryman _ __ 38,168 

Notice of intention to make proof 38 

Officers authorized to take proof 38 

Payment, warrants and scrip in lieu of cash 8 

Proof, commutation and final, made in same manner ... 36 

Relinquishments 91, 174 

Relinquishments, offering of, for sale, how treated 38 

Suspended final entries, confirmation of 135, 160-161, 223, 265-270 

Trees recognized as timber _ _ _ _ 38 

Timber, abandonment of settlement claim after removal of 35 

Timber depredations, laws and instructions relative to, form the subject of 

a separate circular 142 

Timber destroyed by forest fires in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. _ 16, 

24-25, 236 

Timber on public lands . _ - 35, 109-113 

In Alaska 126-128 

Timber, necessary, may be taken from land cleared for cultivation 35 

Timber trespassers, cash purchase by (act June 15, 1880, sec. 1) 6, 178-179 

Tonkawa lands, Oklahoma.... 48,52-53,234 

Township plats and diagrams, fees for furnishing 140, 181-182 

Townsites: 

Act of March 3, 1891, section 16, relative to, on mineral lands 226 

Act of March 3, 1891, sections 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, allowing entries in 

Alaska for townsites, etc... 3,129-135,224-226 

Laws and instructions relative to, form the subject of a separate cir- 
cular 226 

Trade, manufacture, or other productive industry, entries for, in Alaska. 122-126 
Transmutation of preemption into homestead claims 16, 167, 187 

U. 

United States district land offices, list of . . 270 

Unoffered and offered lands, distinction between, abolished 255 

Unsurveyed lands: 

Settlers on , - 13 

Settlers on school sections (sec. 2275, Rev. Stat. ) 1 50 

Soldier's additional allowed for, in Alaska 114-115 

V. 

Vacancy in office of register or receiver. _ _ . . 86-87, 149 

W. 

Waiver (partial) of homestead right . _ 27, 34 

War, homestead settler who serves in Army, Navy, or Marine Corps in 

time of 22,94,256 

Warrants, military-bounty land 6-9, 24, 27, 151, 160, 236 

Widow: 

Of deceased homesteader 15, 154 

Of deceased Indian homesteader 34, 183 

Right to make soldier's additional homestead. 29-31, 1 56 

Wife, deserted or divorced — 12 



